P200,000 down the drain
Paralympics counting losses
The Paralympics Association of Botswana (PASSOBO) lost P200,000 after an aborted trip to Dubai early this year. PASSOBO vice president, Montie Ratlou said they were due to send a team to Dubai for classification or rankings ahead of the Paralympics which run from August 24 to September 5, 2021. He said an advance payment of P200,000 was made for logistics including accommodation and meals, but the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC) cancelled the trip. He said there was no refund for the money paid.
“The trip was turned down at the last minute so we could not get a refund. We ended up going to Switzerland instead, in May,” he said.
MYSC permanent secretary, Kago Ramokate said BNSC has to account for the funds.
PASSOBO is sending two athletes, Edwin Masuge and Gloria Majaga to compete at the Paralympics in Tokyo. A send-off ceremony was held for the team in Gaborone on Tuesday. The Tokyo trip would need deep pockets with a pre-games training camp in Yokohama expected to cost P300,000. Ratlou said the stay during the games period is around P250,000.
He said the money goes towards tickets, accommodation and meals, among others.
Ratlou said they were allocated P2.8 million to prepare for the games and the actual tournament.
There is no medal target for the team, which flew out of the country yesterday. The two will compete in the 400m T13 (vision impairment). T13 sport class has the least severe vision impairment eligible for para-athletics. They have the highest visual acuity or a visual field of less than 40 degrees diameter.
Team Botswana started preparing for the games in September 2020.
Team manager, Ratlou said it has not been an easy road.
“We held our first camp in September and our athletes are students. It was mostly weekend camps until we selected the best athletes we wanted in the team. It was not an easy journey. Olympics and
Paralympics are two different entities. For an athlete to be classified as a para-athlete, they must go through classification first,” he said.
Ratlou said they only had a few athletes who were classified and that meant they could not compete at any sanctioned competition without classified athletes. He explained that they had a pool of athletes that they thought they could classify and increase the team that they had.
He said due to COVID-19 restrictions proved difficult, which meant they only had two athletes. However, he said they were supposed to have three athletes but a third athlete was injured.
“We stand a chance of reaching the finals in Tokyo. Majaga is ranked number 15 in the world and Masuge is ranked number 11. With those rankings, finals are possible and at the finals, anything could happen,” Ratlou said.
He said the challenge was that athletes are Form Three students and they need to balance academics and sport.
He said there is no pressure on the athletes because they are still young and going to the Paralympics is for the experience.
“They are dedicated and one day we would celebrate them. Even during the Paris 2024 Paralympics, it is possible,” Ratlou said.
Coach, Katlego Maotwe said preparations were held during the Independence Day holidays followed by a break until the December school holidays. He said the camp then proceeded in January.
“COVID-19 restrictions affected us a lot. We had to follow some procedures to secure these two athletes. It was a long process, which was completed in March. During that period they were not training and could not leave school where they are boarding,” he said.
Maotwe said Masuge was ready for the Paralympics.
“Initially, he was clocking 52.00 last year. But this year, he opened the season with 51.00. I started him with 800m for speed and endurance. We then went for a two-week training camp in South Africa where Keatlaretse Mabote and Bose Mokgwathi picked injuries,” he said.
Maotwe said during that period, Masuge did Personal Bests (PBs) of 50.08 and 50.5 in two consecutive weekends. Masuge’s first race is on September 1. Majaga takes to the track on September 3.