BCA elects new committee

The incumbent Botswana Cycling Association (BCA) president Mmetla Masire is   expected to run for another term in office at the   federation’s Annual General Assembly (AGM) this Saturday in Gaborone.

However, it is not yet clear as to be not yet clear as to who will   challenge former the Tsela Riders club member. Nevertheless it is not clear whether BCA members will endorse Masire to be their president for the next three years as per the new constitution.
Masire took over presidency of the rapidly growing sport federation from Kagiso Potongwane three years ago. Masire was mandated to bring governance and proper structures to the then troubled BCA, which lacked international recognition let alone failed to win the hearts of locals rather the sport, which was   assumed to attract only the well heeled.

Masire with his five-team executive committee members, which is made up of Tlamelo Dube, Tefo Monareng, Karabo Rasenyai, Jeremiah Kokwane and Anouk Van De Geest had catapulted the cycling community to international standards let alone bringing public confidence in local cycling sport, which has now enjoyed growth in club membership and club sponsorship.

A case   in point   is the recent sponsorship announcement of P184 741 by Mascom wireless, which   continued a three-year running partnership with BCA affiliates Tsela Riders. In recent years when Botswana produced five level 1 qualified UCI coaches and two UCI level 2 qualified coaches. BCA started its first grand participation in international competitions in 2014 when they participated in Africa Youth Games, which were held in Gaborone. The continental showpiece saw the cycling association fielding 12 cyclists in different categories both in road and Mountain biking.

The following year the BCA sent local cycling sensation Bernado Ayuso to a continental road championship held in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa where he finished in  7th  place. Under Masire, the BCA   has also made some strides by partnering with the World Cycling Center in South Africa whenever they were preparing for international events.

This year the BCA sent four of their promising riders Sethomo Masebe, Bakang Ebudilwe, James Masimo and Abueng Malete to the World Cycling Center for preparations for the recent All Africa Games held in Congo, Brazzaville. This year for the   first time   in history   Botswana is currently ranked 7th in UCI standings after a stellar performance at the recent mountain biking continental Championships held in Lesotho.

The BCA had sent Botswana had eight cyclists. This weekend 13 cycling clubs are expected to vote a new committee, which will now as per the new constitution be in office for the next three years as opposed to the past where they held election every year and for the past three years the cycling member clubs has continuously requested the current committee to continue without being challenged.