Notwane Men‘s Netball team has partnered with Men For Health and Gender Justice Organisation in a campaign to increase health consciousness among men. The campaign is in support of the Pre exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) awareness.
PrEP is an anti HIV prevention medication taken every day by people who are at substantial risk of contracting the HIV virus.
A two day Notwane Men’s Tournament which is part of the campaign has been slated for the 18th and 19thNovember 2017 at Botswana Netball Association courts (BONA). The theme for the tournament is; Respect Test, Respect Yourself, and Respect Sport.
Seven local and two international teams are expected to battle it out in for the championship of the inaugural competition.
Tams that will be competing are the host Notwane, Police and BDF Cats (from Gaborone), Rocky Giants, Diamond Kings of Jwaneng, Thunder Bolts and Delta Kings from Maun.
Notwane also invited teams from neighboring countries. Eagles Netball team from South Africa and Highlander Netball team from Zimbabwe are the two international teams that will compete in the tournament advocating for men’s positive health.
Talking to Sunday Standard Sport, Notwane Public Relations Officer, Lesego Masole said “Notwane is a big team and as such the team has to take the lead in promoting healthy living. We expect the partnership to be fruitful and the tournament to be successful. Notwane has a large following and we expect them to take the lead in promoting healthy life styles” Masole said.
“Our partners have the resources and we have the audience and we hope together we can achieve the desired results” said Masole.
The main objective of the awareness campaign is to educate men about the PrEP because it is believed men are reluctant when it comes to health issues and testing for various diseases.
The Men For Health and Gender Justice Organization is expected to set up stalls to disseminate information to the public. The public will be educated on steps to take and guided on where to go if they want to test.
The tournament will be played in two pools, Pool A and Pool B. Masole added that no exception and special treatment will be made for the international teams, they will be drawn into the two pools and play in a round-robin format. Top two teams from Pool A and B will cross each other until the final match where the winner/champion is expected to emerge. The registration fee stands at P750 per team. Medals and trophies will be available for the top three teams, Individual players will also be awarded for the best netball playing positions during the tournament.
