BRU moves to resuscitate B Division

MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Staff Writer | Saturday May 25, 2013 00:00

 

Pule Motlhatlhedi is the secretary general, while Simon Kanaimba and Shawn Basupi are additional members. The development came after BRU president Bob Lekan announced that the running of the B division league remained among the union's challenges due to a host of factors.Lekan mentioned shifting games and failure to attend games as the most common challenges. The committee is expected to bring change to the suffering B Division.

On other issues, Lekan told delegates that the year 2012 gave BRU a chance to redeem itself from the mishaps of 2011.'We saw the successful hosting of the six nations tournament in Gaborone which was used as 2015 Rugby World Cup preliminary qualifiers which our team, The Vultures, subsequently won,' Lekan said.Among other achievements, the BRU saw the smooth running of the A division league and the return to action by students from both junior and senior secondary schools.

According to Lekan, 2012 was a successful year for the senior men national team, The Vultures. The team played three international friendly games against Matebeleland and Swaziland and two tournaments games against Zambia and Mauritius which they all won. 'The team has a record of five out of five for 2012 which is a very commendable work thanks to the efforts of the technical team, the players and union management,' he said.The Vultures were crowned Africa Championship Group 1C champions in Gaborone following their sterling performance in the tournament. This also saw the team being elevated to Group 1B where they are going to play against Namibia, Tunisia and Senegal.

However the same could not be said about the Junior Vultures because they do not have competitive tournaments yet. The Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) is yet to come up with tournaments for developing nations like Botswana, Lekan said. 'This issue was discussed at the CAR General Assembly in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and the board promised to look into the matter,' he added.Lekan expressed hope that the confederation will do what is necessary in the best interest of sports development.

Despite all the success, Lekan said the union also faced hiccups, among others, a limited number of officials, limited funds, and low commitment levels from some individuals within the union sub-structures. The rugby chief thanked teachers and the employer for finding it fit to resolve the impasse that saw teachers refusing to take part in co-curricular activities, badly affecting sport development in the country.