Bridge elects officials

Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday December 3, 2013 15:13

The candidates were unopposed with Keneilwe Mosomodi retaining her position as president while Thapelo Gaongalelwa is the public relations officer. Thatayotlhe Maele is treasurer with Kabelo Gordon as youth coordinator.

 The committee will be in office for a year. Next year, the federation intends to change the term to four years.

Speaking during the weekend AGM, Mosomodi said it remains a challenge that most clubs are not affiliated to BBF. She said most of the coordinators have agreed that they will form clubs where they are based.  She explained that Egypt is performing well in the African continent because of its community clubs.  Mosomi said BBF is struggling to attract members because there were few community clubs in the country.  'There are four community clubs in Gaborone, Francistown and Mochudi which are affiliated to BBF. 

Unless there are more community clubs, the sport would have a challenge in attracting older players. Most of our players are from schools and the players only get to play bridge during school tournaments,' said Mosomodi.

Members of BBF endorsed a decision at the AGM to cluster the country into three regions, the north, central and south for schools tournaments.

BBF members have agreed that from next year, schools would play regional competitions with the best performing players qualifying for the nationals.

Mosomodi explained that BBF held a workshop for secondary school coaches in Orapa that attracted 50 participants. 'The coaches were divided into beginners, intermediate and advanced.

They learnt bridge basics and tournament directing. We as the executive are aware that the days are not enough and if funds permit, we would increase the number of days,' she said. BBF members were encouraged to do more in raising funds for the federation instead of relying on the Botswana National Sports Association (BNSC) grant.