Concern over volleyball league delays
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday July 6, 2024 09:53
The league was due to start in April but was postponed to this weekend and has been rescheduled once more. Mafolofolo coach, Isaac Thenjelani, told MmegiSport that they are in the dark about what is happening to the league. “The BVF executive committee members are the only ones who know what is delaying the league. Clubs have started preparations. The problem is how long will you prepare while costs escalate,” he said. Thenjalani said they have an interest in recruiting a lot of players but the transfer window is now closed. He pointed out that acquiring players from other clubs is now expensive and without valid competitions, it is not worth it. Thenjelani said the absence of school sport has negatively impacted volleyball development as clubs like Mafolofolo believe in developing their own players from schools. Tjiyapo Madeluka of UB Yaros said the BVF had announced that the league would start in April but that did not happen.
He said they have released their players because most of them are University of Botswana (UB) students. “We will call them back only when we see signs that the league will start. As we speak, there is no how the league can start before referees and coaches commissions are updated. We also expect a launch before the competition starts and we want to know what or how much we are playing for,” he said. Madeluka said clubs are still waiting for grants from the BVF because they are struggling financially. “Mind you, the transfer window opened and closed and teams failed to pay for players' transfers,” he added. The BVF vice president-administration, Ndibo Lebala, said draft fixtures have been completed and sent to affiliates for comments. “After the fixtures were finalised we intended to start tomorrow (July 6), we realised that there was a delay in releasing information about what was being played for. Things are now back on track. On Tuesday we received a letter from the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Gender and Culture that informed us on how much we will be getting for the league. However, it is late to start the league this weekend because our rule is that we should inform affiliates seven days before the competition,” Lebala said.
When asked if BVF has updated Commissions about the league and the allocation of grants, Lebala said they were to meet Commissions last weekend, but the meeting failed due to the unavailability of affordable venues they normally utilise. He said the plan is for the meeting to be held tomorrow. “We will allocate grants to clubs. However, the funds we have now are from the government. We engaged the ministry to assist us with funding and now clubs can be active and reduce the impact of spending from their pockets. They will mobilise and maybe as the league continues, some sponsor will come along when they learn that we do not have prize money,” he said. Lebala said the league will run until the end of March 2025.