Botswana Basketball Association (BBA) says it has decided to suspend all national team assignments to channel funds in the construction of its courts next to Lekidi Centre in Gaborone.

BBA president Terrence Showa told Mmegi Sport that they are desperate to secure their own facilities and that is why they have taken the decision. He said the move was prompted by a shortage of funds.

"We have decided to suspend all the senior national team activities for a year so that we spend our little money in constructing our playing courts. We have told BNSC (Botswana National Sports Council) and we are waiting for their response but they have been supportive," he said.

He lamented that BBA spends a lot of money booking courts at the University of Botswana (UB). He asserted that the plot for the courts has long been demarcated but they could not start construction due to shortage of funds. He said they have hired a Cuban technical director who is under-utilised because there are no facilities. Showa believes that if they have their own courts, basketball will improve tremendously.

"If BNSC can give us the opportunity, we would start (construction) as soon as possible," Showa said. The national team has already missed the Four Nations Tournament in Zimbabwe and the Africa Championships qualifiers. Showa is confident that pulling the national team from competitions will not taint the image of BBA in international basketball.

Under previous administrators, BBA was accused of misusing funds. But Showa points out that the current youthful executive, which took over last year, has dealt with all internal matters and it is eager to take the sport to greater heights. He acknowledged that basketball has a bad name locally and sponsors have been shunning the game.

"People still wrongly believe that basketball is for a certain group of people. Our main concern has been administrative issues but we have to make sure that we satisfy BNSC.

We have sorted out all internal problems and want now to focus on other things," he said.

He claimed that before the current committee came in, the sport was almost dead but now, it has been revived. He said many people doubted the potential of the officials but they are determined to prove critics wrong.

To revive basketball and lure sponsors, BBA has embarked on a 'Sponsorship Appreciation Campaign'. Under the initiative, different companies have been given a platform to market their products during games. Showa explained that the campaign is mainly to attract sponsorship. He said they want sponsors to feel the presence of basketball first before they start lobbying for financial backing.

"If we give them this kind on mileage, it would be easy next time to convince them to give us sponsorship," he said. BBA held a tournament at UB courts to lure potential sponsors and companies displayed their merchandise at no cost. The tournament gave clubs an opportunity to prepare for the second round of the league, which starts this weekend.