Almost a year and half since Botswana’s Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) framework was presented to the Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, the framework’s implementation strategy is said to be now ready for presentation to various stakeholders.
According to Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) Chief Executive Officer, Tuelo Serufho, the working committee, which was tasked with creating the implementation strategy, has now done the work and it is ready to be presented to stakeholders “when the time is right”.
The working committee, which is composed of personnel from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Department of Sports and Recreation, Botswana National Sports Council, University of Botswana and BNOC, was tasked with looking at ways on how various facets of the LTAD framework can be implemented and the costs related to implementation.
Serufho told the Sunday Standard in an interview that, with the work now done, mobilization is ongoing for the implementation strategy to be presented to stakeholders. Should the implementation strategy be approved by stakeholders, it will now be all systems go for the beginning of a wholesale roll out of the LTAD plan, which will involve helping various sporting codes adopting and adapting the plan to suite their different sport development needs.
On how long he expects the LTAD to be fully implemented and running, the Serufho said that ‘there is no definitive timeline’ on the implementation of the LTAD.
He, however, added that they are very hopeful that the implementation will start sooner as it can help fine tune sport development in the country.
Asked whether Minister Shaw Kgathi’s advice that the framework be adapted and used while awaiting official approval, Serufho said while there has not been any official roll out of the plan as yet, some sporting codes,, like golf and judo, have already adapted their own LTADs and are implementing it as part of their grassroots development plans. “Unfortunately, adapting and implementing a LTAD framework, such as the one we have, needs money, which local sporting federations do not have, hence they (sporting codes) are not able to tailor make the LTAD to suit them,” Serufho explained.
While happy that the implementation strategy is done, the BNOC CEO said there will be a lot more work to be done once the Implementation Strategy is approved.
He said some of the challenges expected ahead will include helping different sporting codes to adapt the LTAD, educating parents, teachers, trainers and the general public on how the LTAD works, erecting testing centers for athletes as well as finding the right personnel to monitor the implementation of the LTAD.
He pointed out that educating parents, trainers and the general public will be key to the success of the LTAD.
“They have to understand that kids do not have to specialize in a certain sport at an early age but should rather play as many sports as possible to develop their athletic ability,” Serufho said.
He added that this will include sporting codes allowing young kids in their development programmes to go and play other sports.
“If we allow them to play various sports, we will then be able to correctly assess them in future as to what sport would suit them as individuals looking at their capabilities,” he said, adding that this will also include fine tuning school sport programmes to be in line with LTAD requirements.
“This does not mean scrapping the current system but rather making some refinements to it. Currently, sports activities in schools are term specific, meaning kids play certain sports at certain times during the year. Under the LTAD, kids will be expected to play various sports throughout the year,” Serufho explained.
Though conceptualized way back in 2009, Botswana’s LTAD started in earnest during 2010 and its framework was presented to the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture in February last year.
