Grass roots must be a major priority for sport

The Minister of Youth Sports and Culture Thapelo Olopeng has called for Batswana to continue registering success and raising their international rankings in the sports arena.

Olopeng who was officiating at   the 2016 Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) awards in Gaborone over the weekend said there was need for great prioritization of investment in grass-roots sports programmes and junior development. “Catching them young,” should be the catch phrase and approach for National Sports Associations operating under the auspices of the BNSC, Olopeng said.

“This can assure us of sustainability of excellent performance.” The minister gave examples of   upcoming young talent like Naomi Ruele, Kaya Groth and Baboloki Thebe, adding that these individuals have what it takes to continue increasing the country’s global competiveness in sport. For his part, the BNSC chairman Solly Reikeletseng said the continued   partnership with stakeholders who   support sports was important.

“I therefore take this opportunity to express    heartfelt gratitude to government for supporting us financially to deliver our mandate. We can never thank the   business community enough for all the assistance we get, as well as fans and supporters for the euphoria they breathe to our industry,” Reikeletseng said.

Meanwhile, some of the winners at the BNSC awards included: Naomi Ruele (Junior female sports person of the year), Lame Hetanang (Sports woman of the year), Karabo Sibanda (Junior sportsperson of the year) and Zibane Chikanda (Sports man of the year).