The competition comes at a time when the country is struggling with resuming school sport, which is normally used to select athletes for the Region 5 Games. Botswana is sending a team of football (boys and girls), netball, tennis, volleyball (boys and girls), PASSOBO (boys and girls), athletics (boys and girls), boxing (boys and girls), and swimming (boys and girls).
The Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) CEO, Tuelo Serufho told Mmegi Sport all sporting codes that are travelling to Malawi have started preparatory camps. “Now that schools are opened, training will be at individual clubs and schools until such a time individual National Sport Associations (NSA) will organise camps respectively.
Coaches are appointed by NSAs through their structures and so far we have not heard of any challenges,” he said. Meanwhile, the Botswana Tennis Association president, Oaitse Thipe said tennis players have been competing in preparation for Region 5 Games. He said the recent International Tennis Federation tournaments that were held in Gaborone were also part of the preparations. “The preparations have not been easy because we did not have a sponsor. But all went well. We have submitted our team list to the BNSC. All the players in that list were part of the tournaments except for Ekua Refilwe Youri,” he said.
The Botswana Athletics Association vice president, Oabona Theetso said the athletics team was in camp during the school holidays but has since dispersed. The boys' team competed during the recent (Botswana Defence Force) BDF Half Marathon where they dominated the men’s 10km and juniors categories. The team was training under the watchful eye of the southern zone coordinator, Doctor Mandau. He was also in charge of the team that won medals in Maseru. The Botswana Boxing Association (BoBA) spokesperson, Moitshephi Nkabiti said preparations are underway but nothing much has been done so far.
He said the team has been in camp and they have been in discussions to find a way to keep the team busy because there are no upcoming tournaments. “We intend to visit areas where our boxers are training at their individual schools to make sure that they keep in shape. The other thing is that our programme was disturbed because the funds for the preparations arrived late from the BNSC,” he said.
Nkabiti said BoBA sport development officer, Pearl Mooketsi is involved in the training of the team because BNSC is pushing for women to be part of the entourage whenever the team travels to competitions. He said the team has been selected and will be submitted to the BNSC next week.
The team comprises Otisitswe Kapinga from Nata Senior Secondary School, Boitshoko Chepete also from Nata, and Keobakeng Philip and Gorata Setlabane from Gantsi Senior Secondary School. Mmoloki Sekwaipe from Lotsane Senior Secondary School, Katlo Kgowe of Matlala Junior Secondary School, and Thuso Kobe from Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School. The technical officers are Gift Thipe, Masego Pelopedi, Mothusi Taele, and Othusitse Mogotsakgotla.
