Boxing gears for AUSC Region 5
Following the pronouncement by President Masisi that schools will be closed from June 14 until 17th August, Botswana Boxing Association ( BOBA) saw a window of opportunity to prepare for future competitions.
The schools closure necessitated by the surging COVID- 19 positive cases offered the local boxing mother- body an opportunity to hold a camp and make selections ahead of the African Union Sports Council ( AUSC) Region 5 games slated for Lesotho in December 2021.
The current camp consists of seven ( 7) boxers, five ( 5) boys and three ( 3) girls who are accompanied by two coaches and a team manager.
“We did not have school sports since 2019, Botswana games and interclub competitions have also been cancelled this year and this affects our development progress,” said BOBA Public Relations Officer, Taolo Tlouetsile. “However, we have to do something, we are trying to cope, and we are using the current break to bring the team together, to build the momentum as we don’t have local competitions ahead of Region 5 games in Lesotho.” It was under- par performances from local boxers at the Olympics as Mohammed Rajab Otukile and Keamogetse Kenosi failed to make it past the preliminary stages at the ongoing Tokyo2020 Olympics. Lack of funds to prepare the team was often mentioned as one of the challenging factors the team faced ahead of the Olympics and COVID- 19 outbreak compounded the woes.
According Tlouetsile, Botswana National Sports Commission ( BNSC) and Botswana government have financially assisted the association to hold the current camp. “Every exercise is costly, at least the games are sanctioned by Region 5 Troika of Ministers, we get government support, but the country is going through a rough patch. We don’t have a substantial budget for this kind of camp but BNSC and the government have come on board to help us. We do adhere to COVID- 19 protocols and this means added costs,” boxing PRO highlighted. With AIBA Men’s World Boxing Championships coming up in October ( Belgrade- Serbia), Maseru Region 5 games- in Decem
BE PLEASED TO TAKE NOTICE
ber, the Commonwealth games ( Birmingham- England) coming next year, and 2024 Paris Olympics games all in the horizon, plans are underway by BOBA to challenge for medals at these events. BOBA mouthpiece DATE OF SALE: shared
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that: “Our strategies are aligned to those of BNSC, our
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interest is to have won an Olympic medal between now
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and 2028, at the 2020 Olympics we were eliminated in the first round, which is not good. We are looking forward to upcoming competitions to see how far or close we are to achieve our objectives. In Africa we are coming alright, we are ranked amongst the top 6 countries; we need to push more for international programs to further enhance
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our development.” In the last edition of Region 5 games ( 2018) which were held in the country, TERMS boxing OF amassed SALE: a total of 13 medals but none of those were gold. With the current crop, Tlouetsile indicated that DATED they are AT hoping GABORONE THIS 12TH
to add gold medal and they are preparing for that in the best way possible under the challenging circumstances of battling the COVID- 19 pandemic. The AUSC Region 5 Youth Games are hosted every two In years. the matter Maseru between: will host the games in December after they were postponed last year, and the 2022 Games scheduled for Malawi remain unchanged.