Mosah Mokganedi
31 July 2008
The Confederation of Southern African Netball Associations (COSANA) Under-21 games to be held in Lesotho this month have been postponed to October.
The Botswana Netball Association (BONA) spokesperson Bakwena Oitsile said the tournament had to be pushed back because of lack of accommodation. He said the postponement of the event will give the Botswana team more time to prepare. Botswana last took part in the competition as hosts and finished second after South Africa. Oitsile explained that preparations for the games are at an advanced stage and the team was recently in camp for two weeks. Oitsile said if funds permit, they will organise international friendly games to strengthen the team. BONA intends to send the players to a six-nation tournament in Singapore next month instead of the invited senior team.
Oitsile said they want to expose the young team and prepare the players for the future.
He explained that they are currently struggling to raise money for the Singapore trip though they have already confirmed participation. He said participating in tournaments like the one in Singapore is very important because it gives players much needed exposure. The team coach Lorato Thebekgosi said the squad has been finalised and will go into the second camp during the school vacation. She said their intention is to take the COSANA title from their rivals South Africa and they are working hard to realise the dream. He added that South Africa is a beatable side as it overcame Botswana with a slim margin in their last encounter. "We will do our best and if we do not take the championship, at least we will try to maintain our runners-up position," Thebekgosi said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
