Mosah Mokganedi
18 July 2008
A 12-member Botswana karate team leaves on Wednesday for the World Hayashi-Ha Championships in Barcelona, Spain, despite failing to get sponsorship for the games.
The team comprises 10 men and two women. However, it is not certain if the whole team will travel as three of them are still having problems in raising funds for the travel expenses.
The women's team has Pearl Ranna, who won two gold medals at the Karate World Championships in Las Vegas, United States of America (US), early this year.
The other one is Neo Van-daloo, who will be making her debut at such a big event.
The men's team comprises Nonofo Keokilwe, Tebogo Molapong, Mohammed Ali Hussein, and Kayle Bannister who also brought medals from the Las Vegas event.
Others are: the Groth brothers Khaya and Kevin, Ofentse Bakwadi, Tshepiso Van-daloo, and Ashelein Naiker.
Apart from Kevin Groth and Bakwadi, others will take part in the competition for the first time. Both Groth and Bakwadi brought two gold medals each in the same competition four years ago.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, team coach Mpho Bakwadi expressed confidence that his team will do well because they started preparing for the competition last year.
He was also hopeful that those who are short of funds would get financial help before the team leaves. Hayashi-Ha spokesperson Jerry Ditlhong expressed hope that the team will do well as usual.
Ditlhong said they are motivated by the recent visit of their Grand Master Seinosuke Metsuye from whom they had learnt much.
Ditlhong also thanked the parents of the athletes who sponsored their children. He said they tried all in their power to get financial partners but failed tough they will continue to seek sponsors until departure day.
Ditlhong observed that they still had a challenge selecting a significant number of women as girls are reluctant to venture into karate.
He added that they have since overcome the problem by recruiting young girls, especially from English medium primary schools, who are still learning the basics.
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