Mosah Mokganedi
28 March 2008
Gaborone — The Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) plans to revive its league if it gets sponsors. The federation dumped the league three years ago and resorted to tournaments after failing to get sponsors when Mascom pulled out.
Since then, there have been feelings that discarding the league is killing volleyball as players stay idle for long periods. Some stakeholders think the federation should have resorted to playing a non-sponsored league. The sport has lost its spark as teams perform below par and spectators stay away. Recently, volleyball did not win a single honour at the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) awards. Volleyball just like athletics had dominated the annual awards. BVF vice president in charge of technical matters, Waboraro Mokgatla says they are in dialogue with a number of potential sponsors to finance the league. He hopes that the league will start by the last week of April if the negotiations go well. Mokgatla said incase they do not agree with sponsors, they will see what to do. He explained that they had to resort to tournaments because the money they got was not enough to run a league.
Mokgatla said in the meantime, there are activities that will keep players busy as they wait for the sponsorship deal. He refuted allegations that the suspension of the league killed volleyball. He said players have always been kept busy through tournament. However, he admitted that it is very crucial to have a league as it runs for a longer period than tournaments. He questioned the belief that volleyball standards have gone done. "I still believe volleyball is doing well, our clubs are also doing well at international level," he said.
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