Botswana was given an opportunity to host the tournament after Uganda pulled out. Some countries like South Africa have already selected the men’s team that will compete in the Africa Cup although the venue is not yet confirmed.
BONA public relations officer (PRO), Mokeresete Mokeresete said they are still working on the logistics to see if it is possible to host the Africa Cup. He said BONA, the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) and the Africa Netball board are currently working together to find ways of hosting the tournament in Botswana.
“The request came through in August but the tournament is in November. The BNSC hosting policy does not allow us to host an event within a short time because there are issues with the budget. We have told Africa Netball board that we are not able to host. The board was in Gaborone and they met with the BNSC leadership and BONA,” he said.
Mokeresete said the biggest challenge is funding. When asked about the amount needed to host the event, Mokeresete said Africa Netball together with the BONA treasurer are currently working on the figures. Meanwhile, BONA has organised the Independence Cup to be held from September 28 to October 2 at a venue to be confirmed in the northern part of the country.
According to BONA secretary-general, Thulaganyo Retshabile, in a letter to the Southern and Northern zones, the tournament will be treated as the senior women's and men’s national teams’ selections. “All the teams are expected to participate in the tournament. Teams are responsible for their own arrangement of accommodation, meals and transport,” Retshabile said in the letter. She said teams are allowed to register to play as many players as they want. She stated that there would be no prize money but only medals for both categories.
There will be workshops on the sidelines of the tournament targeting match officials beginners, technical officials beginners and refreshers for match officials grade C, B and A. There will also be a workshop for beginners’ coaches to graduate to Level One and Level I coaches to graduate to Level II.
