BNSC vaccinates athletes ahead of AUSC- Region 5
Botswana National Sports Commission ( BNSC) has announced that all members of Team Botswana set to compete at the Africa Union Sport Council ( AUSC) Region 5 games will be vaccinated. This was revealed by BNSC CEO, Tuelo Serufho recently as sporting codes continue to step up their preparations ahead of the games, which are slated for Maseru- Lesotho in December.
BNSC facilitated the vaccination of all the athletes
and officials that were earmarked for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
According to the BNSC Chief, enough vaccines were secured with the generous help of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, to the extent that even reserves that did not end up making it to Tokyo were vaccinated. The local sport governing mother body has prioritised athletes who represent the country internationally to be vaccinated.
“Yes we’ve got plans to have athletes who are professionals and those that are representing the country internationally in the foreseeable future to be vaccinated.
So I can confirm that we’ve got those plans. Whether or not they’ll end up being vaccinated before their turn in terms of their age groups will depend on the determination of the health authorities as to the level of risk and other considerations, but of course we are trying to vaccinate our athletes who are going abroad,” Serufho stated.
Team Botswana is expected to have at least 177 athletes to be selected from Athletics, Athletics for the Visually Impaired, Basketball, Boxing, Football, Judo, Netball, Swimming, Taekwondo, tennis and Volleyball.
Netball, boxing, football and tennis are some of the sporting codes which have already started their preparations ahead of the games. When addressing the Media during a virtual press briefing recently, Serufho advised federations to move away from an era where regional Games could just be an end or a project by themselves, to one in which they are part of a long- term project for success at an international level.
The BNSC further divulged that the budget for these Games stands at P12.5 million. Federations were also reminded that for them to tap into this amount, they must fulfil and demonstrate that they have plans for their teams beyond the games in Maseru.
This has been necessitated by the long term objectives of BNSC which entails winning five medals at the 2028 Olympics. Botswana has won two medals since the inception of the Olympic Games, with Nijel Amos winning silver in 2012, and men’s 4x4 relay team winning a bronze at the just ended Olympics.