It's kick-off time for BONA
MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent
| Friday June 6, 2008 00:00
Jungle Queens' coach Joseph Makakaba expressed hope that this year's edition will forge ahead as envisaged. Observing that the way the league was run in the past was not bad, he said there are few things that need to be sorted out. Makakaba hoped the association would inform match officials about their assignments in time to save time. In the past, matches were delayed because officials were late.
Makakaba also decried poor performance by some teams. He said some teams have serious financial problems hence their performance is below par. Only two teams have been competitive in recent years resulting in them always meeting in all the netball finals.
Makakaba suggested that BONA and Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) should consider financing non-institutional teams. Jwaneng coach Abednico Chitelo believes more still needs to be done to improve the running of the league. Chitelo blamed both the association and teams for the apparent lack of improvement. He added that some teams do not take the league seriously such that they would not even bother to train for it. In Chitelo's view, the league is not growing in terms of competition and that all stakeholders must get together to chart the way forward. He complained that the league is not marketed well enough. He also explained that his team is not well prepared because most of his players are students.
Kelebogile Mocuminyana of Notwane Netball Club also said her team is experiencing similar problems as Notwane's. She said players started training early as they expected the league would start in May. She said they have now lost hope and are reluctant to train.
Mocuminyana is also worried about the long recess after the league. She said it was important that netball have other competitions to keep the game alive. She said the long breaks have resulted in players being rusty when the league starts. Just like Chitelo, Mocuminyana feels netball is not marketed enough. She suggested that Motor Centre banners should not only be erected during finals as has been the case. Mocuminyana also added that at Notwane, they believe it is time they groomed youngsters to have a junior team and that they will use the league to give them exposure.
BONA spokesperson Bakwena Oitsile said the league format would not change. He explained that they have shortage of match officials-a thing that affected matches in the past. Oitsile added that to curb the problem, the umpires' committee ran a course last week to lure more match officials. Oitsile expressed hope that teams are prepared and hoped for a more interesting league because the sponsorship has increased. In tomorrow's fixtures, Kanye Swallows take on Mochudi Centre Chiefs.
Chiefs will once again lock horns with BDF Cats in the second game. In the last game of the day, Cats will date Kanye Swallows. Notwane will meet Jwaneng in the only game of the day on Sunday. All the games will be played in Gaborone.