Patricia Maganu
19 December 2008
Even though netball is one of the oldest sports in Botswana, it seems to have had a stunted growth as compared to soccer and other relatively new sports codes like golf, squash and tennis.
Netball has always been popular in schools but once children leave school, they seem to forget about the sport.
Netball officials and veterans agree that the sport is not growing as much as it should.
Botswana Netball Association (BONA) marketing and public relations officer Major General Bakwena Oitsile says that "yes the sport has a growth problem but the sponsorship is not the problem as many people claim". Oitsile said that the problem lies with management.
"Teams can be formed but collapse because of management. We have had teams formed all over the country but because of poor management, they end up collapsing," he said.
Oitsile strongly refutes that sponsorship has anything to do with lack of growth for the home sport.
"We have always had sponsors. Look at Motor Centre, Debswana and the new sponsor, Choppies," he said.
He says that in Botswana, netball has been one of the codes that have had luck with sponsors. Oitsile says that the game has not grown in terms of number of teams in the country but as for recognition, netball has grown. "In terms of recognition the game has grown but like I said we do not have teams," he said.
He said another reason why the game might not be striving is that it has always been classified as a women's game and so it was easy for other sporting codes to thrive more than netball. "Other codes could have been helped by the fact that they were for men and women. When you talk about volleyball, you talk about men and women so there is that consultation which was easier unlike a game that was totally isolated to women," he stated.
The Netball veteran said that even though it is a challenge, men have to be allowed to participate in the sport. He said that though IFNA has allowed men to participate in netball, BONA had its fears.
"We were dilly-dallying over the issue wondering if it would work. But if men and women work together, the sport will grow," he added.
Oitsile also said that they have not achieved much because they are part-time. "We have not been recruiting in schools because we do not have a technical manager and we do not meet the criteria to get one. It is not easy," he said.
Oitsile says that the ultimate solution would be for teams to be formed and managed responsibly.
Another netball veteran and BONA secretary general Gracious Seru says that she would not say that netball has not grown but rather it is taking off slowly. She says that the main problem she sees is that netball is not supported by the corporate world as soccer is. "It is an issue of sponsorship partly," she said.
Seru says that the corporate world has to be urged to support the girl- child.
According to Seru, another problem that could have contributed to the slow netball growth is that it is a women's sport and in the past women were not treated as men.
"Women were denied a lot of opportunities so this is a problem that could have stemmed from our cultural values," she said. She said that girls were protected and kept in the yard while boys went out and played,". She added that girls also grow up to be women and as life goes on, they have to change their priorities and commitments.
"If a woman is active in sport and then children and family come into the picture, they will totally lose focus of their sporting life and turn to taking care of the family and other things whilst men do not have those challenges," she stated.
TASC Netball Club manager Benson Ntereke also says that it is an issue of sponsorship.
"Netball does not have many supporters, hence the few sponsors as compared to other sports codes," he said. He said that a lot of tournaments are necessary to boost growth.
Ntereke also said that teams are unable to recruit and sustain players because they do not have money.
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