Under-20 coach blames interference for team’s show
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday September 9, 2024 09:33
Manyepedza said the period for the training camp ahead of the championships was too short compared to what was afforded previous teams. He said in future, the team should camp away from Gaborone to avoid interference by club coaches. “The issue of personal coaches is disturbing. You are busy coaching the team, someone comes and takes their athletes to the side to coach them. I am preparing the national team, such a trend destabilises and divides the team. When you are not a national team coach, allow the national team coaches to do their job. The relationship between athletes counts, but now we have two teams in the camp. These are junior athletes, they do not need personal coaches,” he said. Manyepedza felt that the team did well although some athletes were carrying some injuries. He said there was a challenge in choosing an athlete to field due to the times that the team brought to the competition.
“I had a small team. It was a challenge for any changes to be made. The times that my athletes had on paper were old, the likes of Ernest Kumevu, Keorapetse Oreokame and Thabang Monngathipa last competed in May while some competed in June. It was difficult for them to compete against athletes who had competed two weeks before the championships,” he said. Manyepedza said the women’s team had athletes with slower times of 58.90s and 57.67s but were expected to compete against athletes who brought sub51s or 53s. He said the absence of School Sport cannot be ignored. He suggested that there should be youth competitions that should be held alongside the senior competitions. Manyepedza said the women’s 4x100m team will be able to compete at the 2025 All Africa Junior Championships in Madagascar because they will still be in the junior category. He urged the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) to keep the team together as they have the potential to be the best in the future. He said they had to deal with Kumevu and Monngathipa’s recurring injuries. “The two athletes seemed to be healed but when the intensity of the competition increased, the injury recurred. The challenge is that clubs will now be responsible for assisting them to get proper rehabilitation. Clubs do not have funds to support the athletes and it is up to the Association to assist,” he said.
Manyepedza said despite the challenges they faced, the team fought a great fight. He said the athletes are still young and with the experience they have gained, they can go far. He said it is up to the BAA to make sure that the athletes are nurtured and protected as some of them will be completing Form Five. The BAA had sent a team of 12 athletes to the competition, which took part in the 4x100m relay, the 4x400m relay, the mixed relay, the 200m and the 400m. The men’s 4x400m relay team reached the final where they were disqualified under technical rule 24.19. The rule stipulates that: 'For all takeovers, athletes are not permitted to begin running outside their takeover zones, and shall start within the zone. If an athlete does not follow this Rule, their team shall be disqualified.' The team had finished sixth. The women’s 4x100m relay team finished in position eight in the heats with a new National Record (NR) of 46.43s. Sethunya Majama did not progress to the semi-final after finishing in position six. Kumevu was placed sixth after reaching the semi-final while Monngathipa did not proceed to the semi-final.