18 Dec 2024

The Botswana Netball Association (BONA) U-21 youth league concluded successfully on Saturday since it started on October 19. 

BONA marketing and communications officer, Stanley Modibedi said the U-21 youth development league has been a milestone project for BONA, fostering future champions and enhancing technical capacity of the netball stakeholders. 

Modibedi said the deliberate empowerment of women through the appointment and training of young female match officials underscores BONA’s commitment to gender equality and professional development within the sport. 

“With continued investment and support, the initiative will play a pivotal role in elevating Botswana netball to greater heights.,” he said.

Also, he added that BONA appreciates the Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) for sponsoring the league and making it a success.

BONA introduced the U-21 youth development league as part of its long-term strategy to develop netball talent at grassroots and youth levels.  The league served as a vital platform for identifying, nurturing and exposing young athletes to competitive netball.

He said the development aligned with BONA’s vision to bridge the gap between junior and senior teams, ensuring a steady pipeline of skilled players, who were ready to represent Botswana at national and international levels.  He said the league has successfully met its key objectives of talent identification and development as the league showcased emerging stars, some of which were being considered for the national team and elite programmes. 

“The growth in skill and confidence and match fitness of the players has been remarkable,” he said. 

Additionally, the U-21 youth development league has resulted in increased participation. Modibedi said following the introduction of the league, the BONA affiliated teams were encouraged to introduce more young players, demonstrating enthusiasm for youth development. 

He added that the youth development league was equally instrumental in introducing the young and upcoming players to competitive play. All in all, Modibedi said the initiative’s success was reflected through improved players’ performance. 

He said a critical component of the league’s success was the deliberate appointment and training of female match officials aimed at empowering women through BONA’s development programme.

“All those trained at the beginning of the league were appointed to officiate the league matches and their performance was exceptional. This initiative diversified the pool of match officials, which was traditionally dominated by men.

 It is a significant milestone in promoting gender equality in sport officiating,” he said. 

He said BONA aims to retain the young and newly introduced match officials and provide further grading to develop them into seasoned professionals, ensuring a cadre of well trained and qualified personnel. 

“This effort is celebrated as it adds to the existing pool of match officials, which are dominated by men and mark a progressive element towards inclusive,” he said. 

Additionally, Modibedi said the league featured young coaches and managers for the teams, further contributing to the holistic development of netball in Botswana. 

In and interview prior to the commencement of the U-21 youth development, BONA president, Onkemetse Mpudi, revealed that a lion’s share of the P572 400 grant received from BNSC would go towards development projects, of which one will be the youth league. 

Mpudi said the youth development league would cover players in the U-21 category and  BONA came up with mechanisms to ensure that the grant would benefit all the sectors that would go a long way in developing young players.

Prior to commencing the league, BONA was engaged in training umpires, match officials, managers and referees who would be engaged in officiating the league. 

Mpudi said BONA was undergoing transformation by resuscitating its structures in an effort to regain its repute and following as one of the most dominant sporting codes in the country. 

Therefore, the journey of resurrection started on September 21 at the BONA youth development training workshop for managers, coaches, technical officials and match officials. 

The training involved young players who aspire venturing into the management of the game for all the BONA affiliated netball clubs.

 Therefore, in an effort to float and propel the sinking ship, Mpudi and her team kicked off by mending the foundation of the sporting code, by targeting the youth and training more officials and administrators of the game. 

Mpudi said the training of officials was aimed at strengthening female leadership by increasing women representation at all levels of the sport’s structures.

He said the goal of the development mechanisms was not only focused on improving the quality of the game but also meant to retain and nurture talented individuals who have made the sport possible.

Mpudi said the next question that arose was, who were going to officiate at the games, since it will be of young players. 

She said the association was of the view that it would be ideal for the tournament to be officiated by young and upcoming officials, resulting in the training of umpires, match officials, managers and referees who were their peers with the believe that they would handle the matches better. Mpudi said a sporting code traditionally played by women, it was unfortunate to observe that the officials that were active, which included coaches and referees, among others, were mostly men. 

He said the sport used to have women umpires and referees but of late they had disappeared, and men were now dominating the officiating of the games. 

“We wondered what was happening to women officials in netball. We are trying to resuscitate the situation by training more women to come on board. The training is also conducted by former women umpires, managers, referees and coaches,” she said. Mpudi said the move was equally moving towards establishing gender parity in netball, as it was the case in the past.  ENDS