Nkobolo was involved in a car accident that left him in a wheelchair and cut his athletics career short. However, the former national team sprinter told SportMonitor over the weekend that psychologically he is trying by all means to get back to the sport. “What happened to me is known by everybody. Coming up with sport event is an indication that I want to bounce back. You will see me soon doing something. I am still doing rehabilitation and there has been an improvement. Change is not about me getting up from this wheelchair, but it entails lots of things. I am now able to drive,” he said.
Nkobolo organised an event called ‘Playing without Boundaries’ Para games at Ba Isago University in Gaborone. “The aim of this event is to create bond between the able bodied and people with disabilities. Most of the time people with disabilities are not given opportunities to showcase their talent. Some are always indoors because of the shame. People with disabilities are not given the respect they deserve, we are here today for them to get all that,” he said. Games that were played on the day included blind football, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis and bocce.
Nkobolo said athletes who took part in the event were from Mochudi, Molepolole, Ramotswa and Gaborone. Head of Cultural Transformation, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Debswana, Kefilwe Mokone, said they have a beautiful story to tell when it comes to supporting sport for people with disabilities. She said they held the first Paralympic event in Jwaneng, a first in the country. “The event was Para-multi sporting codes. We had trained and prepared for the event. Debswana is a sponsor for the Botswana Paralympic team, having spent over P700, 000. We sponsor their training and competition. We intend to continue doing that,” she said.
Mokone said as a small economy, Botswana is unlikely to be the biggest player at Olympics. “Not to say we cannot because Letsile Tebogo has confirmed that but there is a nitch and an opportunity to better represent ourselves in the field of disability sport,” Mokone said.
Meanwhile, Monty Ratlou from the Paralympic Association of Botswana (PASSOBO) said they were invited to be part of the event as technical partners and assist with equipment such as balls for the football for the blind. “We were technical partners in each sporting code that was being played here; wheelchair tennis, wheelchair basketball and blind football. Those are Paralympic sport and sport that we regulate. There was also bocce but it falls under the Special Olympics. We also have bocce at Paralympic played on wheelchair but the one that was played here was specifically for intellectual impairment,” he said.
