VU DANS LA PRESSE .....  PERIODE SUR LA PAGE : 01/01/2004 à ce jour

Badminton must put its house in order  Tirelo Wapula Mmegi Botswana 29/08/2007
Response to a newspaper article - Mmegi of 23 August 2007 entitled " Exposure cost Botswana' carried by your publication.

I wish to comment critically through your newspaper to the words alleged to have been aired by a certain Botswana Badminton Association National under 19 Team Manager Kele Mogege in an interview with Mmegi Sport, concerning the performance of the Under 19 team at the just- ended 8th All Africa Championships held at St Joseph's College.
As a person involved deeply with the interests of badminton particularly at grass roots level where more damage is inevitable in terms of grooming players into junior or senior players, I differ seriously with Mogege on the reasons he advanced for the failure of the team to get at least a bronze medal in the team events. Mogege is mistaken; he alludes to the following flimsy excuses which are indeed laughable in the eyes of the badminton well -wishers and most importantly to the nation at large:
Lack of exposure of players  
Lack of skill and capability  
Lack of time to put together, train and drill team (due to school commitments)
Court fright
Let me give the nation an overview of these unrealistic excuses painted to blind the eyes of our intelligent minds. It must be stated unequivocally that before people can apportion blame on players, materials (courts), skills and so on for apparent poor performance, they must first and foremost critically examine themselves. Taking you through the excuses I wish top rebut as follows:
a) Lack of exposure - Basically the team has been taken to Durban in June 2007 to take part in the 2007 RSA Inter Provincial (Kwazulu Natal) Tournament. The excuse is again contrary to an interview statement by Kunyalala Mphinyane (Vice President - BBA) live on Btv Sports Show, Powerade Sports Hive, and I quote 'the team is ready because it has just returned from Durban as part of the preparation for this International Tournament' - unless of course if they had taken the team for a holiday tour. Surprising for you Mogege to make such a statement.
Lack of skills and capability - I still do not understand this excuse, particularly the word 'capability'. Mogege how can you pick and coach a player at National level and go on a local national newspaper and tell us that you picked players who are not capable? Pure shame on you guys. I basically do not understand what the players are incapable of doing - all players are capable of anything about badminton let alone winning international matches. 'Tlogela go itshwarelela ka setlhare mo metsing'. You go on to talk about 'lack of skills' what happened to those skills that Gondo and Ndaba recently acquired in Bulgaria and China respectively? Or they also went on a holiday tour of the countries mentioned - that would not be procedural with the nation's funds. Come on Mogege wasn't there anything you could talk about? Why did you thrown away Gondo and his skins as he has been taking care of the players? BBA might need to help you answer this one.
Lack of time to prepare for games (due to school commitment - If my memory serves me well we (Botswana) won a bronze medal at the same competitions in Zambia with players like Oreeditse Thela and the Late Makhula Makhula while they were schooling, infact during exam time. I remember they used to camp for almost three weeks prior to the games and they brought glory to the country. Why can't you take the same initiative as well? No you are preoccupied with your own agendas not the country's interests at heart. Imagine the coach's and manager's attitudes, behaviour, ability and credibility then! Your's leaves a lot to be desired. I seriously denounce your excuse Mogege; the team's schooling mandate cannot hamper their performance. Just call players for regular weekend camps: give them food, transport allowances, accommodation, tutorials and so forth and results shall come your way - positive one's for that matter.
d) Court fright - I was reluctant to respond to this excuse because its very surprising that Mogege, a prominent self-proclaimed badminton player with GBC could make such utterances of a player having 'court fright'. Firstly, our players had home ground advantage as they played and trained at the St Joseph's College Hall before and prior to the competitions.
Prompted by the article by Mogege, I wish to highlight to the nation who is expected to know any progress made by our different national teams selected, as per different codes affiliated to BNSC. The dream of winning competitions (regional and international) is in every citizens heart and more importantly in my heart as an ambassador of badminton in this country. Let me mention that for the past three years or So, the Botswana Badminton Association has been surrounded by problems after problems. Problems rose from untimely losses as natural disasters to retirements, sacking of players on camp, financial irregularities, favouritism and corrupt selections, allowances rows to mention but a few. BBA has got to clean their house before they could go any further rather than electing a new committee over 'left over'. 
There is a contagious disease that needs to be uprooted among the BBA committee members, lest it affects even members labelled 'hard workers'. Taking you down memory lane, what happened to these once perceived as hard workers? Prince Molome, Mmabatho" Ray, Matlapeng!' Maswena, Segalo? Were they not as active as we initially thought? No they were! They were just infected by the BBA disease and what happened to them? They got sacked or voted out maliciously to advance other people's interests. Who is next in the 2008 Committee Elections, because the current ones already are showing symptoms of the BBA disease? Jonathan, Moagi, Ray, Molome, Segalo, Madziba, Mudongo, Mavis, Rex to mention but a few. They might as well get some immunisation doses or stay away from the affected zone. Questions that run into people's minds are whether Tjiyapo Mokobi - Mokhosoa can turn things around using her past experience? Or she is with the wrong team? Or she is a thorn among lilies? Only badminton well wishers can answer that one given time.
As for the just- ended 8th All Africa Junior Championships, the team's performance can be blamed on the following factors, as observed critically by myself and probably unconsciously by most of the badminton well wishers countrywide. I am not here to pinpoint, degrade or put blame on anyone for anything, NO! I am simply putting things straight for the masses.
Poor, unqualified, inexperienced coaching staff: Despite being with the team at the recent Durban tourney in RSA, T. Ramotlopi's tenure as stand in coach for Gondo proved useless as he is inexperienced and just a tired former national team player who should just play social badminton. Mogege as viewed by BBA was supposed to be a team manager for the team, taking care of the general welfare of the players and the coach.
However, he has done nothing but to continue frustrating players and the nation at large - players can witness that. He is one hell of an arrogant young player who cannot hold his behaviour right. As for a certain lady called Ms Ntshole, BBA particularly Ndaba and Mphinyane must clear the mist on the presence of the lady, because I do not think the whole executive is aware of such an appointment - you see corruption, firstly she is just a mere badminton patron who was robbed into the camp just because she happens to have players from Ghanzi Senior School (where she is a teacher) in the team.
Furthermore, these players from her school are just mere raw players who should not have been the national colours if proper selections were made. I do not want to sound like I am favouring some people but a true badminton fanatic can bear witness to the masses that all the players in all the different national teams are a brain child of teacher -coaches from particularly Junior Schools. We have several experienced coaches in Gondo and Dan (coached the first ever successful national U 19 team) and a couple of development coaches from junior schools mostly based in the North; to mention just a few schools in the country where we have capable coaches, some of whom are qualified with coaching certificates, Maoka, Bobonong, Letlhabile, Okavango, Orapa, Morama, Ditsweletse, Tlhalogang and so on.
lnterference from the BBA Committee - The BBA committee has a tendency, more especially the two Vice Presidents (Ndaba and Mphinyane) of interfering with the coach's and manager's procedures when they should have been busy working for their portfolios, at least they have a lot to do rather than going outside their domains. These interferences have led to the teams and or players being frustrated and or unhappy with decisions taken on player welfare including selection of players by coaches, allowances, kits, tutorials to mention but a few. These interferences cause a lot of confusion among players and or coaching staff.
Negligence of duty by committee members - Most importantly the issue of negligence of duty and lack of consultation with concerned stakeholders by BBA committee members; more especially the two Vice Presidents has cost the country's success in badminton a great deal, more especially in the just ended 8th All Africa Junior Games hosted by Botswana. BBA has long bid and won the bid to host the games as early as 2006.
It is surprising to learn that our team which has been alleged to have gone through rigorous training in preparation for the games was disqualified on the 19th August 2007, just a day before the games started.
The disqualification came as a result of the boys' team being over the stipulated age limit (U19). The boys' team comprised Martin 'Ngwanabotho, Kabelo Golekanye, Ponatshego Mmereki and Kamogelo Ramotlopi.
All these  boys at currently 19 years old and as per the requirements, players are not supposed to be at the age 19 during the time when games are held - something that the BBA was aware of and decided to call the boys into camp and gave them training ignoring the B team which was later used in the games despite being ignored during training sessions from the 13th - 19th August 2007.
The boys B team comprised Omphile Marumoagae, Casma Wadikgosi, Kgosietsile, Basimolodi Thekiso - who were eligible due to age to play. Then BBA expect the boys to perform miracles when they were not as prepared as the over age boys team. Mogege then has the nerve to go public and mention that the team lacked exposure when it has not been prepared at the start. Stop wasting funds guys and clean your house please. 
In conclusion I wish to add that BBA was at the helm of controversy again from the last Zone 6 games held at the same venue in 2006, when they unprocedurally sacked Oreeditse Thela for alleged utterances on allowances and general welfare.
This year, 2007 would not pass by without BBA in yet another controversy, they decided to call mostly teachers from junior schools,. Debswana and BDF employees for a Level 2 Umpiring Course prior to the games. The camp was not well organised as it was supposed to start on the 17th August 2007 but ended up starting on the 18th August 2007 very late for that matter.
The course was conducted by Andrew Reynolds of Badminton South Africa - a BCA and WBF Accredited Umpire. All people attending the course have been trained in Level 1 Umpiring in 2006 by the same gentleman.
As if that was not enough BBA did not offer breakfast and supper to the course participants during the days of the course despite their decisions to do so in the invitation letter. The participants raised complaints to the BBA which included certificates for Level, which were given to Kunyaa Mphinyane (VP) and he never passed them to the owners.
This time the participants requested the BBA to pay them officiating fees as their respective work places were not prepared to pay them  at the games but only for the course stay. BBA was not prepared to comply hence they 'sacked' their only trained Umpires from 2006. Instead of BBA negotiating with the Umpires, they decided to go on and call inexperienced people to come and umpire the games comprising the standard of the games, something that did not go well with the team managers of the visiting teams.
   I hereby in this article wish to mention that I am only here to air views carried by majority of all concerned Badminton well wishers and stakeholders thereof.
1 am in addition prepared to go on with fighting for the truth in order to benefit the innocent and talented players out there. Botswana National Sports Council spends a lot of money in developing the sport - Badminton. However. we have power hungry individuals who enhance their dubious, malicious propagandas in the name of sports. My motives are simply to put them on the spotlight and I will be prepared to face whoever comes my way -
I will not retreat.

 W.B.F. - BOTSWANA
8th ALL AFRICA JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007  Gaborone (Botswana) Du 20 au 27 Août 2007
RSA Junior team beat Egypt 3-1 to win the All Africa Juniors 
They topped the medal table with 5 gold medals

Quatre médailles de bronze pour Maurice
Trois médailles de bronze pour les Seychelles

Chinese Embassy Sponsored the All Africa Badminton Junior Championships  Botswana

Botswana badminton national team manager, Kele Mogege has said they need exposure when preparing for international tournaments. He said lack of exposure is partly to blame for the country's poor performance at the All Africa Junior Under-19 tournament, which is going on at the St Joseph's College in Gaborone.
Mogege said that though some countries at the tournament have advantage in skill and capability, Botswana players should have done better. Botswana finished the tournament in sixth position out of seven countries.
We are disappointed with the result because we had a good chance of winning a medal. Though the competition is tough, we should have at least finished in the third or fourth position," Mogege said. Swaziland finished last while Zambia is in fifth position. South Africa, Mauritius, Egypt and Seychelles were to play the semi-finals to decide the top four at the time of going to press.
"As this is the Under 19 tournament, you will realise that most of these players are students and they do not usually get much time to prepare for tournaments," Mogege said. He expressed hope that the local juniors will do well in the individual events taking place tomorrow. "Looking at their performance in the team events, it is not promising but we will always be optimistic and hope that they will improve in the individual events," he said. He added that court fright may have been another major setback for local players but he expressed hope that with the experience they have got from the team events, they will overcome the odds in the individual competitions. He said some of the players who did not get a chance to take part in the team events will go into action tomorrow. Nigeria was expected to arrive yesterday to take part in the individual events.

Africa: BBA to Host Africa Badminton Tourney
Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone-Botswana) 10 August 2007  Posted to the web 13 August 2007  Boitumelo Khutsafalo

Poor organisation irks badminton chief   23 November, 2006 GABORONE - Daily News
Africa Badminton Federation (ABF) president Larry Keys has expressed concern at the way the local body conducts its affairs. Keys said he was not happy that Botswana Badminton Association (BBA) elected its executive committee every year.
He said the practice was old fashioned because it rendered the associations programmes unsustainable.
This is not healthy for the development of the sport as people have to start all over again. Talk to your people if they are resistant to that and seek advice from Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) and Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC), said Keys.
Firstly, you need to draw an action plan and submit it to the BNSC and BNOC for assistance, said Keys.
He also advised them to spend money wisely.
He said the BBA should have a priority list of events that they need to participate in rather than attend everything.
I personally feel that it was a mistake for you to want to participate in the Junior World Championships, I think you ought to have a performance plan to guide you in this regard, said Keys.
He underscored the importance of BBA to be self-reliant.
He said ABF was prepared to develop sport in Botswana through provision of equipment and experts.
He advised BBA to take advantage of programmes such as Olympic Solidarity to develop the local game.
Keys decried BBAs poor relationship with the media, saying it was a major setback in the promotion of the sport.
Some of the concerns raised by BBA affiliates were lack of a centre and full-time personnel. BOPA

BBA selects team for ZoneVI games   24 August, 2005  - Daily News
GABORONE - Botswana Badminton Association (BBA) has selected ten national team players to represent the country in the Zone VI national Badminton championships to be held at St Joseph College on September 22-25.
BBA vice president technical Kunyalala Mphinyane told BOPA in an interview that his association was delighted as it would be the first time the region organized the Zone VI competitions.
This is the first Zone VI competitions to be held and we are fortunate to be the first country to host them. We have selected the best 10 players based on merit over the weekend.
The selection was based on the players potential and ability to play different strokes. We chose players that could win a number of games, that is why we used double knock-out system, said Mphinyane.
The mens team includes Oreeditse Thela, Tebogo Ramotlopi, Thabo Kgaswane, Otsile Marumo, Gasethata Gondo, and Thuso Rachabatsotlhe while the womens team comprises Kgalalelo Kegakilwe, Otilia Budi, Kgomotso Theole and Precious Ramaja.
The ten players went into camp on Monday and Mphinyane said they were happy about the teams fitness level so far because it had prepared thoroughly for the trials that were held over the weekend.
He said the team would be coached by Harold Ndaba, noting that he does not doubt the team success in the coming regional competitions because the athletes have been doing well in senior African competitions.
Mphinyane said the other thing that he was confident about was the teams discipline, which makes it easier for them to learn from their coach.
He said they are expecting most of the countries to arrive in the country on September 21. He observed that so far they have not experienced any problem.
Mphinyane said Debswana would be sponsoring the championship. BOPA

Badminton team fails to impress   26 February, 2004 BOPA Daily News Archive
GABORONE ­ The Botswana badminton team participating in the preliminary rounds of the Thomas and Uber cups in Pretoria, South Africa, lost its opening game 0-5 to Nigeria.
The unimpressive performance continued in the second game, which the team lost by the same margin to Mauritius.
Coach Kitso Maswena told BOPA that inadequate preparation, lack of fitness and exposure cost them the games.
Botswana was making her maiden appearance at the games, which started in 1986. Other participating countries are Mauritius, Nigeria, Swaziland, Uganda and Zambia. The main tournament will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia, in May.
Botswana is represented at the games by Harold Ndaba, who is the captain, Tebogo Ofentse, Kabelo Mosinyi, Oarabile Mosinyi and Goabaone Segadimo. The team is expected home today. BOPA

Enregistrement B.W.F

ARCHIVES

Botswana Badminton Association
Source : Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC)
 

Address
Botswana Badminton Association
P.O. Box 201369
Gaborone - Botswana
e-mail : badminton@bnsc.co.bw

Introduction

The game of Badminton is an ideal sport for everyone- young or old. It provides clean, healthy play and the opportunity for all members of the family to lose themselves in an exciting, physical activity, full of fun and companionship. In the high end of performance it is a very demanding sport in all aspects of physical work, technique, mental abilities and tactics.
For schools it is an ideal opportunity to work with boys and girls in one sport and to have them together in lessons. Badminton is not difficult to learn(all strokes are entirely natural actions), it is a motivating sport and it is building up all different parts of physical fitness (endurance, speed, reaction, flexibility etc.).

Historical Background of Badminton

In the middle of the 19th century English Colonial Officers brought home to England a game from India, was called `Poona`. In 1872 it was presented at the Badminton House, the land seat of the Duke of Beaufort. The house of Badminton gave the name to a sport which spread out all over the world. Today badminton is an Olympic sport and is played in more than 100 countries all over the world.
In 1934 the International Badminton Federation was founded and in 1899 the 1st All- England- Badminton-Championships were played. In 1948 the Thomas Cup for National Teams (Men) was played for the first time and in 1956 the World Championships (Uber) for National Teams(Ladies) was added to the competition calender of the IBF.
In 1977 the 1st World Championships (Individual Championships) were held in Malmo (Sweden) and in 1989 a team – competition was added to the Individual World Championships (Sudirman Cup). In 1992 Badminton became an Olympic Sport in Barcelona (Spain). Badminton is a dynamic sport and is more popular and common in Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Japan etc.

History of Badminton in Botswana

Like most sports, Badminton came to Botswana through enthusiasts originally from Europe, Asia gathering together and playing socially. The mines namely Orapa, Selibe Phikwe and Jwaneng because of their cosmopolitan nature took the lead in popularising the game- infact introducing the game to the indigenous population. Other major towns like Gaborone and Francistown followed soon.
It is not known exactly when the first game of Badminton was played in Botswana. However, during the 80`s there was a lot of activity going on between Francistown, Orapa and Selibe Phikwe. The idea to ultimately form an association was tried in 1985 but could not materialize due to lack of commitment and distance.
However, in 1990 the Botswana Badminton Association was formed under the chairmanship of Ishmael Bhamjee. BBA is affiliated to BNSC, Africa Badminton Federation and the International Badminton Federation.

Who we are and what we do

The Botswana Badminton Association is a young organization having been formed in 1991.Currently there are 8 registered badminton clubs. All the clubs provide technical and administrative assistance to the association development at no cost. BBA is initiating the role of identifying and nurturing talent throughout the country at low level or grass roots.
BBA is carrying the mandate of developing a marketing strategy which will bring the game of badminton to the youth in rural areas. Badminton should be about promoting and developing the game.
As regards development of Badminton so far there is considerable measurable/steady progress. Majority of schools are playing Badminton and Badminton has gained popularity in the country. Badminton also enjoys coverage and publicity by the media thus popularizing the game. The overall standard is good and participation is satisfactory. We have a future in Badminton in Botswana in which local talent will blossom.

Vision

It is envisaged that by January, 2005 Botswana will be in a constant state of readiness to compete at the highest level in both the junior and senior categories. BBA shall endeavour to have large pools of players to choose from for local and international competition at all times and in all categories. This will be achieved by introducing and entrenching Badminton in more schools and institutions especially Primary and Junior Secondary Schools.

Mission

To promote and establish badminton as a competitive and socially rewarding game. This will highlight the health, intellectual, economic and social gains accruing from the sport.

Goals
To achieve:

• A state of constant fitness and reduced ill-health because of constant and continuous exercise;
• Emotional and spiritual well-being that accrue from competitive badminton;
• A sense of belonging, tolerance, worth and achievement;
• A level of professionalism in the sport that may result in financial gains.

Objectives
To introduce, consolidate and strengthen the sport by:

• Organising and supporting competition in areas that already have badminton.
• Using existing clubs as nucleus for expanding the sport to the surrounding areas;
• Establishing new regions and structures in strategically placed areas;
• Establishing a pool of trained personnel such as coaches and administrators at various levels of competence;
• Facilitating the establishment of an independent ``Umpire Association``;
• To reach out to more remote centers of the country Gantsi, Tsabong and their catchment area areas;
• To consistently compete in international tournaments in line with National Sports Vision.

Executive Committee Members B.B.A.

Les sources principales d'informations