Private sector urged to invest more in women football
Chakalisa Dube | Monday July 11, 2022 16:00
The call was made by the Female Representative in the Botswana Football Association National Executive Committee (BFANEC), Lobito Ncube.
She was among key speakers at a ceremony where Debswana’s Orapa Letlhakane and Damtshaa Mines (OLDM) renewed its sponsorship for the Boteti Regional Football Association (BRFA) women’s league.
The sponsorship is worth P600,000 and will come to an end in the 2024/2025 football season, with each season allocated P200,000. It covers all key logistics associated with running the league.
Additionally, the sponsorship was a renewal from a similar deal that was signed in 2019 between the two parties. “It is evident that women football offers many growth opportunities for the private sector.
The game has grown exponentially. The rising popularity offers vast untapped potential leaving much room for value proposition. For this reason, the private sector can explore various opportunities offered by women football as one way of growing their ventures,” Ncube said.
The rise in popularity of women football has largely been attributed to the Mares’ qualification for the WAFCON tournament currently being staged in Morocco. Ncube also said government, CAF and FIFA alone cannot entirely be tasked with supporting the growth of women football.
This she said means the continued support of the private sector to grow the women’s game is very vital. “Government, FIFA and CAF can only do so much. The rest of the support needs be closer to home within our communities,” Ncube said.
At the event, OLDM assistant general manager, Ditiro Lentswe said the sponsorship renewal is influenced by fact that Debswana consider itself as an important partner in the country’s sporting landscape. “Our commitment in sport is to a large extent underpinned by our desire to be part of the transformation of this country into a great sporting giant that it has the potential to be.
It is our firm belief that the sponsorship would have noticeable impact on the communities in our zone of influence, particularly on the participants themselves. We would like to see this sponsorship having more impact, nurturing talent and producing many sportswomen who will compete internationally and make a living through sport.” Lentswe advised sporting bodies in the country to urgently review their strategies and come up with commercial driven initiatives to generate income rather than solely depending on sponsors. “Sport has the potential to be developed into a major industry with significant contribution to national growth and employment.
The BFA has to relook its strategy and intensify the commercialisation of football in Botswana.” Meanwhile, BRFA chairperson Phillimon Bunu said more teams were showing interest in participating in the league as it is now attractive owing to the sponsorship from Debswana. “This is likely to stretch our resources but we are working on strategies to ensure that more resources are available for women football,” he said.
The teams have increased from five to 10 since the league inception over a decade ago. Meanwhile, the champions in the women’s league, Orapa All Stars, were also given their prize money amounting to P20,000, medals and a trophy.
Other teams in the league also got their prize money depending on their final league position. Debswana also supported All Stars at the inaugural Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTC Botswana) Women Top 8 tournament in Gaborone last month. Later on Division One teams sponsored by Lucara also received their prize money in a separate event.
The league champions, Zowa United, received medals, a trophy and P25,000. Lucara has also pledged to support the team at the Debswana First Division North play-offs this weekend.