- BNSC reduced funds allocated to Fencing Society to 50 thousand Pula annually
The Treasurer of the Botswana Amateur Fencing Society, Chawada Siku has bemoaned insufficient funds from the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) as hindrance to their success.
“The grant we receive was reduced by 75 percent to 50 thousand Pula and mind you, it is supposed to last up to 12 months and cater for all local competitions excluding international competitions,” Siku told The Botswana Gazette in an interview this week, “The funds are very little because to cover all expenses for a tournament we need over 150 thousand Pula to cover expenses for a single tourney.”
She also added that, “The BNSC also said that for them to assist our team financially, the team members should be aged 25 years and below and we had proposed that because one of the team members is aged 25 years they could at least cover his travel expenses but they have been stalling. Right now we have managed to secure a sponsor who would cover our expenses and accommodation in Morocco but the sponsor agreed that the travelling expenses would be from OR Tambo Airport to Morocco so we are yet to secure sponsorship for travel expenses from Gaborone to OR Tambo (South Africa). ”
The Botswana team which comprises of two females and two males is expected to travel to Morocco on the 12th of June this year to take part in the Fencing African Championships which are to take place from the 13 June to 19 June 2022.
One of the participants Kate Lebuile who also plies her trade at Musketeers Fencing Club has expressed elation at the prospect of representing Botswana and taking part in the championships and said they were selected after doing well in the national championships which were held earlier this year, “Every year the mother body organizes national championships and the best competitors are picked from the tournament to represent the country in international competitions.”
“We are optimistic that we will bring medals from the championships, as last year the International Fencing Federation took us on a 12 month course at ETA College at Randburg, South Africa and this improved our techniques and agility,” added Lebuile.