08 Apr 2024

Botswana Judo Federation (BJF) on April 6 launched a Re Ba Bona Ha Judo centre in Selebi Phikwe.

Re Ba Bona Ha is a grassroots sports development project of the Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) targeting children aged between five and 15 in different sporting activities.

Sponsored by Debswana Mining Company, the programme is aimed at identifying and nurturing talent as well as developing children’s sporting abilities.

“We are happy to host this centre in Selebi Phikwe because it is going to help unearth talent and develop future stars,” said the town clerk, Lawrence Mokotedi.

He said a unique sport like judo would not only bring excitement to the children, but would also open up choices since football had been the dominant sport in Selebi Phikwe.

Mokotedi thanked BNSC for the programme saying it would curb delinquent behaviour amongst children.

“We are going to work tirelessly to ensure that we extend this sport to children in peripheral villages such as Sefhophe, Tobane and Mmadinare,” said the BJF development director, Edwin Sello.

He said the Selebi Phikwe centre was the third one under Re Ba Bona Ha programme to be launched in the country.

Though still new to this country, he said judo was an interesting martial arts sports, which instilled a high level of discipline and imparted values such as honesty, sincerity and team work amongst judokas.

The chief education officer, Tshwarelo Hosia, gave this programme a thumb up saying sport played a crucial role in shaping the youth of today.

He said the programme had over the years provided a platform for participants to launch their career path in sports academic, giving them a purpose in life even beyond their school lives.

There are graduates from the programme, who have made it to elite level and continue to inspire upcoming young people.

Hosia said sport could be a source of employment for young people.

“Sports makes our curriculum rich. It is my wish to see the program producing many athletes who will take up the international stage and make a living through sports,” he said.

Hosea emphasised that Selebi Phikwe was commitment to sport development and it continued to complement government’s efforts of creating opportunities for athletes to succeed.

The BNSC’s sports development manager-technical, Frederick Kebadiretse, said the programme was initiated by BNSC in 2002 with the aim to introduce sports to children all over the country.

He said it covered the first two stages of the country’s long term athlete development plan thus giving athletes an opportunity to graduate to the junior national teams and ultimately to the senior team.

He said BJF also saw it fit to take judo to Selebi Phikwe and train more coaches to continue training young people as well as create satellite centres in neighbouring villages to reach out to many young people. ENDS