ZEBRA FUND UNDERUTILIZED
Local athletes who are current beneficiaries of the Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC)’s Zebra Fund are in danger of forfeiting their sponsorships if travel restrictions persist.
As it stands, it is very challenging for local athletes to engage in any competitions and training camps outside the country due to the travel restrictions imposed by many countries.
The Zebra fund equips athletes with their necessary needs and enrols them in short intensive training programs outside the country. With the Olympic Games just around the corner expectation was that the fund will aid athletes in their quest to qualify for the games. However, that is not the case due to the pandemic. Most of the beneficiaries who still stand a chance to book tickets to Tokyo2021 are yet to make use of the funds to the fullest capacity. With most athletes confined to local training camps, their chances of qualifying for Tokyo are slowly becoming slim since they cannot use their Zebra Fund to better their performances and improve chances of qualifying for the Olympics.
“Any funds which are not used during the COVID-19 period will not be refunded and will be forfeited, unfortunately the Zebra fund is not mainly on competition but athletes can buy equipment which may be of value in accelerating their training needs,” said BNSC acting Chief Executive Officer, Tuelo Serufho.
According to Serufho, a number of athletes and sporting codes have in the past benefited from the fund. “We have already assisted our Zebra athletes at swimming to go for a training camp at a high performance centre in Pretoria, we have bought motorsport athletes three motorcycles for racing, assisted tennis players on training needs and we continue to engage other on how best they could be assisted in this time.”
As it stands, athletics lead in numbers in the 2020/21 Zebra fund beneficiaries with the likes of Leungo Scotch, Ditiro Nzamani, Tshepiso Masalela, Tlhomphang Basele, and Oratile Nowe enlisted.
The five of them are yet to qualify for Tokyo Olympics and have been trying their luck in the athletics’ race meets which Botswana Athletics Association held since the start of the year. On a normal year, they could have used their fund to take part in athletics’ meets outside the country in Europe and the rest of Africa to improve their times.
The same thing can be said by the boxing national team, since majority of the pugilists failed to qualify during the African Qualifiers in Senegal, the trio of Lethabo Modukanele, Aratwa Kasemang, Rajab Otukile Mahommed could be using their fund to prepare for the much competitive World Qualifiers slated for France in May while Keamogetse Kenosi, who has already booked her ticket could be utilising the fund to prepare for the actual games by training at high performance centres outside the country.