In just over four days, from the 5th to the 14th of December, fifty-one (51) volleyball clubs from Southern Africa will be converged at Ditshupo Hall in Gaborone for the 2024 Zone 6 Volleyball Club Championships.
According to the tournament organizers, 28 men teams and 23 ladies’ teams have already confirmed their participation in the games.
Though the numbers fall short of the sixty-four (64) clubs expected, the tournament will mark the biggest gathering of volleyball clubs in Botswana.
At stake for the participating clubs will be an opportunity to compete at volleyball continental championships. Teams that attain medal positions from the tournament will qualify for the Africa club championships. Should they go on to do well at the Africa championships, they will then go on to represent the continent at the World club championships.
A toss to decide the tournament’s playing order and fixtures is expected to take place on the 5th of December next week during the tournament’s technical meeting.
With so many teams coming and so much at stake, organizers are optimistic they will pull off a successful tournament. According to the organizers, Botswana is ready and prepared.
They did, however, add that, despite their readiness, there is still more that could and should be done to ensure that it runs smoothly and provides a positive experience for everyone who will attend.
Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) president, Tsoseletso Magala says financial limitations have forced them to climb down on the lofty expectations they had to make the tournament a top event which could give both the participating athletes and spectators the best experience.
“We are a bit limited in terms of finances. There are not enough resources to make a competition of this magnitude as grand as we would have liked to make it, but then you can never have enough resources.”
She says that because of the resource limitations, they just decided to look at their pocket and focus what they have on the game itself to be able to see it through. The BVF president says that they focused the money they had on the technicalities.
Commenting on the matter, the tournament’s Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Chairperson, Tshepo Mpetsane said that they have a 1 million pula target to run the tournament successfully. Right now, they are yet to get all the required monies.
He says that he is however confident that before the competition starts, they will have been able to acquire all the amount needed for this Championship to be a smooth sail.
The LOC chairperson says this is because they have sponsors that promised aid and will be giving them feedback between before the end of day tomorrow (Monday 2nd December).
Mpetsane says so far Okavango Diamond Company has already contributed P250 00 to the occasion. Other funds have come from the BVF, with the assistance of BNSC. The organizers say they have also pleaded with BNSC to pledge more in order for this event to succeed.
The LOC has urged Batswana to play a part and help through attending the event and making a financial donation. The LOC chairperson stated that although there is a P10 entrance fee for the volleyball championships, this cost is not set in stone because they still require funding. He states that if somebody wants to help or support the competitions, they can pay more than the admission charge.
