One of the best skaters this country has ever produced, Thabiso Gulubane, the chairman of Botswana Skate Board Association, headed the Botswana delegation which represented the country at the world renowned skate boarding championships. Botswana’s local skateboarding team which was self sponsored flew the country’s flag high for the first time ever, earlier this week at the world skateboarding championships that were held in Kimberly, South Africa.
|The team fielded five of their most reliable and trusted skaters who went to compete at the internationally acclaimed skating extravaganza. Over 70 countries were present at the competition. The growing list of countries which participated in the 2014 Skateboarding World Championships included: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritius Islands, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Russia, Swaziland, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam. The five man team was comprised of Thabiso Gulubane, Biko Gulubane (Thabiso’s younger brother), Phillip Makgwa, Moagi Motsumi and Theo Setsetse.
“We were given short notice by the event organisers, and this lead to little or no time to start asking for funds from the relevant institutions such as Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) and The Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture (MYSC).” Gulubane added that their representation at the championships created a mutual working relationship between them and international skateboarders, whom they hope will help them establish themselves locally, regionally and internationally as a force to be reckoned with in the sporting code, as skateboarding is slowly but surely being embraced, especially in Gaborone.
Gulubane said, although they had promised Batswana a podium finish at the world championships they were fiercely met by stiff competition. Gulubane emphasized that, through participation at this event they managed to establish good networks with other skaters from across the globe including the World Skateboarding Federation, which is the international mother body regulator for the sport. He said that their trip to Kimberly was self funded and they had to take care of our expenses whilst they were there.” He pleaded with local relevant stakeholders to take their sport seriously and sponsor them because they have activities on their calendar which requires strategic partners.
Skaters from around the globe were battling it out for the Skateboarding World Championships. The competitors were battling it out against each other in a fast-paced, adrenaline-packed contest, at the state-of-the-art Kumba Skate Plaza in Kimberley. The competition started on Thursday, October 2 and ended on Sunday, October 5. For the first time, the Skateboarding World Championships featured a Women’s Street World Championship. The best female skaters from around the world scooped R4.5 million ($500 000) which was the largest prize for a women’s skate contest ever until today.
