Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
Gale Ngakane
4 November 2009
Francistown — The Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) has engaged the services of a sports development officer for Francistown.Odirile Sibanda, 27, who graduated with a degree in Physical Education and Sports from Cuba has been mandated to develop sports in the Francistown area from grassroots level especially in schools.
He explained that the main part of his job is to be the eyes and ears of the BNSC on the ground. "I will be working hand in hand with the main office in Gaborone.
"Initially, I will be running the office alone," said Sibanda, who plays for Mafolofolo, a top-flight volleyball club in Gaborone.
At present, he is still looking for an office before he surveys the sports situation in Francistown so as to make an informed decision. "Even in sports codes which are represented, you will find that there could be one or two teams. For instance, there are only two volleyball teams and I think an equal number for softball. Once we start the survey, we are going to be able to know all these things," he said.Sibanda added that his office will come in handy for sports codes, which do not have representatives.
So far BNSC has six development officers in Gaborone, Serowe, Maun, Masunga, Francistown and Lobatse. BNSC spokesperson, Modipe Chris Nkwe has said they realised there is a vacuum in all the 16 sports districts in the country and hence they came up with the idea of introducing the sports development officers.
"They are the people who will be doing the ground work so that we will be able to make informed decisions about sport. We always knew there was a vacuum, but we did not have concrete information," said Nkwe.
BNSC is presently constrained by lack of funds and 10 districts do not have development officers. Nkwe said they will hire officers in the remaining districts by instalment. "There has been a lot of improvement where we have got officers. At the 2007 Botswana Games, the top three teams came from regions with development officers," he explained.
Two of the development officers Peaceful Seleka and Khumiso Ikgopoleng in Lobatse and Masunga respectively, are former graduates of the college that Sibanda went to in Cuba.
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