BONA PRESIDENT FOCUSES ON ATHLETES WELFARE
...Renewed hope for local netball following successful virtual AGM
With a fresh mandate to lead Botswana Netball Association (BONA) for the next four years, president Malebo Raditladi-Nkgakile says securing a good welfare for players is going to be her number one priority .
This follows the re-election of Raditladi-Nkgakile at the virtual BONA annual general meeting which was held over the weekend. Due to the prolonged absence of netball activity at national level, most netball players are nowhere to be found while some have resorted to playing at the constituency league. Despite the much inactivity which rocked netball in the past four years, affiliates invested their trust in Raditladi to once again lead the association. Having survived the past four years which were full of trial and tribulations, Raditladi-Nkgakile believes it’s time to focus on the players. “I want us to refocus on what is important in the development structure of our athletes. We choose to have sustainable grounds which is empowering our members to know that they are key in the development of the national teams and the outcome of the product at national level. The affiliates can also have activities at their level to prepare athletes for the national league or tournaments. We can’t rush to have activities without preparations, that is why our athletes are always injured because we are more on quick fix than their welfare, forgetting that they are humans before they are netballers,” said Raditladi-Nkgakile. Raditladi-Nkgakile has a mammoth task to drive netball back to the glory days, starting with the revival of the national league which has been defunct due to lack of sponsors. While finances always come as the main challenge, the 2023 World Cup is billed for Cape Town in South Africa. “We are concerned about our rankings but are rankings more important than the welfare of our athletes? Not at all, as the National Executive Committee we are trying to find means to prepare our national team to be part of the Pent Series, Africa Cup and AUSC Region 5 Games. If we can win to have teams start training during weekends despite no activity by government, all the other desires will fall in place. Qualifying for 2023 is a dream that I can’t dismiss, but plans are that we get game time with the lined up events to improve performance of our athletes,” said Raditladi-Nkgakile.