Bring It Promotions spokesperson and coach, Bonita Wise, told MmegiSport this week before leaving Gaborone that their company specialises in foreign tours for volleyball. “The BIP specialises in international volleyball tours and events as well as professional career development. In 2018, the BIP contacted the BVF about Howard University taking a foreign trip to Africa. It was the first time a Division One volleyball programme took a foreign trip to Africa. Mostly we travelled to Europe, Asia, and South America. Once we got in touch with the BVF and realised that it was possible, we decided to take a trip to Botswana to play friendly matches and run school clinics here,” she said.
Wise said the idea was not only to come on a trip and learn about Botswana but to help grow the game and assist Botswana in becoming a competitive force. She said the BVF and the BIP are now 'good friends’ and are still trying to grow volleyball, adding that Howard University was in the country for the second time. “Howard University is prestigious and it is part of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). So that makes this trip much more important and special. We arrived in Gaborone on May 17, from here, we are leaving on Tuesday (May 21) for Khama Rhino Sanctuary and proceeding to the Chobe area, where we will conduct more school clinics. Our trip ends in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe,” Wise said. Lesotho Volleyball Association (LVA) president, Hlapane Tshehlo said they were invited to take part in the Howard University tour by the BVF president, Tsoseletsi Magang, after being impressed by Lepereng Olympafrica Centre during the Zone VI Club Championships held in Maseru in December. “We are a young side with players aged between 15 to 23 years. Being part of the tour has given the players the much-needed exposure. We gave the Americans a tough battle, and I think it was one of the toughest games they have ever played. I learnt that Americans start volleyball at an early age hence the experience. We believe that with more tournaments of this nature, they will grow well in volleyball,” Tshehlo said.
Meanwhile, Magang said the partnership started when the BIP reached out to African countries with only Botswana and Zimbabwe responding. “The BIP is an agency, which deals with volleyball college students dealing with transfers, placements, and securing scholarships in the USA. They deal with HBCUs because their interest is to open up opportunities for black communities. They were also here in 2022 but did not bring a team with only a coach and a few players, and they run national team clinics, coaches' clinics, beach volleyball clinics, including school clinics. The relationship is also meant for them to give open opportunities for our players to go and find placement in American universities,” she said.
Magang said this time around only the women's team visited, while the men’s team from The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) will follow in August. She said the plan is to bring teams from different universities. She said volleyball is contributing towards sport tourism, which is the intention of the Botswana National Sport Commission and the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport, and Culture. Magang said from Gaborone the team conducted training clinics in Francistown at Nyangabwe Primary School, Setlalekgosi Junior Secondary School and Mater Spei College. She explained that the BVF has decided to promote the team that competed at the 2022 Region V Games to the senior level and beef up the squad with a few experienced players for guidance.
