- The club championships begin tomorrow in Maseru
- Recent BVA cup tourney sharpened the teams for Maseru
GAZETTE REORTER
Consisting of six men’s and six women’s, sides, Botswana’s volleyball teams are gearing up for the Zone VI Club Championships that is scheduled to begin tomorrow (Thursday) and end on 17 December in Maseru, Lesotho.
The men’s teams are Kutlwano, the University of Botswana, BDF VI, Mag Stimela, Spiking Stars, and Police VI. In the women’s section, Botswana will be represented by BDF VI, Mafolofolo, Spiking Stars, Police VI, Mag Stimela, and Kutlwano.
According to the president of the Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF), Tsoseletso Magang, there is much confidence in the teams after their participation in local competitions.
Improvement
“These teams were part of the Golden Cup tournament that ended a fortnight ago that we organised because of the Zone VI competition,” she said in a telephone interview.
“We are happy because we saw improvement in terms of competition during this Cup tournament in both the players and the team.”
Shedding a light on the Golden Cup, Magang emphasised BVA’s proactive approach in organising the event. “We took a decision that we would not just sit back simply because we could not find sponsors,” she said.
Hope for sponsors next year
“We had to come up with a plan to ensure that the cup happens to keep volleyball active. It is good that the just-ended tournament happened.”
Looking ahead, Magang expressed hope for potential sponsors in 2024. “We continue pursuing potential financial supporters because we need them,” she said.
“The funding we get from the government to support sport is very minimal. We hope to have sponsors for the league for next year.
Club sponsorships
“In the meantime, we will organise cup tourneys and sponsor them on our own to keep the players active because we want to breathe life into volleyball again.
“We also encourage clubs to look for sponsors that can help run the respective clubs.”