Of AFCON bid and its positives (Part 2)

In the previous edition I advanced reasons why the proposed new infrastructure will be useful and contribute to the country’s economic fortunes even without the sporting environment, that is should we win the bid, but I have since come to the conclusion the country should forge ahead even without bagging the rights to host as the benefits far outweigh reasons proffered to the contrary. However, the hosting rights will propel us to the international stage as well as bring the necessary revenue to the citizens and national coffers.

For this piece we focus on how to ready ourselves post the AFCON 2027 within the context in which the infrastructure was intended for; the sporting environment. We do not need not look far, most of the solutions are with us, either we discarded them, under fund them or simply ignored. The BISA Games are the first to come to mind, if the relevant authorities can revive the games, each stadium will have regular utilisation at regional level and all the way to nationals. The other notable games are the Botswana Games which made Gaborone their abode owing to lack of requisite infrastructure elsewhere, now the prospect of rotating them amongst different regions will be feasible. The infrastructure will give young athletes (through BISA and Botswana Games) exposure to elite training and finest facilities at a young age almost anywhere in the country spare for Kgalagadi and Ghanzi Districts.

I had a chat with former Mochudi Centre Chiefs Coach on the question of exposure and acclimatisation. He gave one example of the young prospect, Nonofo “Pogba” Dikutu, already a darling with Chiefs fans but appeared lost on his first encounter with the lawn at Galaxy Stadium. It is not only Pogba that faces the issue of stage freight; many had their careers decimated just because they lacked exposure to elite facilities at an appropriate time. Many youngsters could not excel abroad not because of lack of talent, but due to their environment not according them enough room to reach their optimum potential.

The National Team has been a Francistown property; it has also been a Gaborone entity for the period preceding Obed Itani Chilume Stadium. For the longest time, the National Stadium and Obed Itani Chilume stadiums have been unrivalled. Post the AFCON the National Team can rotate across elite facilities around the country. There will be a sense of belonging and ownership of the National Team more than ever before. Its reach will widen and hopefully its fortunes as well. The Botswana Premier league will also be another regular customer to these cream facilities and the next insert will focus more on the modalities that the premier league could employ to reach wide audiences even beyond the borders of our country leveraging from the facilities and open up room for other sporting codes and the sports value chain to catch up.

The examples I gave on continued usage are only on the domestic front and they are not exhaustive, but there are much more prospects from regional, continental and intercontinental competitions. For example there is Cosafa, Zone 5, All Africa Games, and Gaborone International Meet etc... We can take Cosafa as a case in point; we can evaluate on the less used stadium (definitely not underutilised) locally, and for argument sake let us pick Tlatlana Stadium in Kasane. The Chobe District can choose Kasane as a host city for Cosafa games on a long term deal as is the case with Kwazulu-Natal and the city of eThekwini for the period 2021-2023. With fresh thinking perspectives as I alluded to in the first insert, the question of sustenance becomes a non-starter.

Otlametse Letsholo otletsholo@gmail.com