BBA Embarks On Sponsorship Drive

Lekopanye Mooketsi | Monday February 10, 2014 14:51

 

He said the league that kicks-off later this month has been running for years without sponsorship because the association has not been in a stable position to strike deals.

It is only last year that BBA   secured sponsorship for the top four national championships.  The championships were sponsored by Debswana and a local company, Posh Ink for an undisclosed amount. Kalebwe said this is an indication that BBA can secure sponsorship for the league.

He said last week’s meeting discussed securing basketball courts. The meeting decided that the association will negotiate with University of Botswana (UB), Botswana National Youth Council (BNYC) and at Botho College to use their courts for league games.  Last year, BBA used Sir Seretse Khama Barracks (SSKB) courts, which however have rough surfaces.  “We are hoping to secure more courts so that we can get a good number of spectators to attend the games,” Kalebwe said. 

 He said in the past, games at the UB courts used to draw a good number of spectators because of their proximity to the city centre.

Kalebwe said the BBA has formed a Local Organising Committee (LOC) to prepare for the Africa Youth Games that will be hosted in Gaborone in May.

He explained that at the games, a different format will be adopted for basketball known as ‘three on three low turn out’. He said under the format, each national squad will be composed of four players each. Hence BBA expects 22 countries to compete in basketball at the youth games. 

Kalebwe said BBA wants to embark on social responsibility programmes, one of which is wheelchair basketball. He said basketball has been gaining popularity over the past two years and the fan base has increased.

“We hope that if we secure proper courts, we will get more people attending games,” he asserted.

He said BBA plans basketball tourney in Serowe or Palapye as a way of taking the game to the people. He said the association is faced with financial challenges and sponsorship. “Securing a sponsorship to run for the whole year has been a challenge,” he said.