Its application was turned down in 2018
GAZETTE REPORTER
Botswana Wrestling Federation (BWF) intends to re-submit their proposal to Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) to be integrated into the talent identification programme popularly known as Re Ba Bona Ha.
This comes after BWF bid was rejected by BNSC in 2018 owing to lack of resources to expand the number of national sports organisations under the Debswana-sponsored programme.
BWF president Moagi Sharp told Gazette Sports that they are now preparing to launch another request after their unsuccessful bid in 2018 and that grassroots development of wrestling in Botswana is proving to be difficult.
Difficult
He stated that it is difficult to expect high level performance without the support from BNSC. “Being without this support is bound to affect our performance because we cannot produce positive results without the right structures,” Sharp said.
“We are now planning to engage BNSC once again after our bid failed last time in 2018 and we remain hopeful that they will see the value in having such a programme.”
He emphasised that the little grant they receive from the government is always channelled into grassroots development events but it often falls short to cover all areas.
He added that they were given only P50 000 and not the usual P250 000 to aid their plans to develop the wrestling code.
Shortage of resources
In 2018, BNSC sports development-technical manager, Mission Mereyotlhe, wrote to BWF stating that the Commission did not have the resources to expand the number of national sports associations under the Debswana-sponsored programme.
“Although we regretfully send you an unfavourable response, we wish to advise you that you should not hesitate to re-submit the proposal for consideration in future,” the letter read in part.
But the two parties had a bitter confrontation over the meagre grant given to BWF this year.
Slap in the face
Sharp noted that grants are determined by the size of National Sports Associations (NSA) regardless of compliance. He said the situation has compelled wrestling to turn to commercial merchandise, which includes bottled water and T-shirts.
Even so, Sharp said Batswana like professional wrestling, hence it is BWF’s intention to market the code more widely to Batswana and to potential sponsors for both pro and Olympic wrestling.
Even though BWF has not partnered with any sponsor yet, Sharp said the federation has introduced Power Rumble Pure Still Water as a way of raising funds for equipment. He added that the main challenge is that there is no wrestling equipment.
BWF says they are focused on finding potential sponsors for its shows, namely Power Rumble and Claw Hammer in Pro Wrestling and National Wrestling Championships for Olympic Wrestling.