Citizen Enterprises Development Agency (CEDA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Thabo Thamane has vowed to usher in a ‘new dawn’ for softball if elected the Botswana Softball Association (BSA) president.
In what promises to be an interesting race for BSA presidency, the CEDA CEO has thrown his hat in the ring and will square up against the current BSA vice president Katholo Mosimanegape.
The elections will be held during the BSA elective Annual General Meeting billed for Palapye on the 28th of this month (April).
Speaking in an interview, Thamane said his comeback to softball, is inspired by his “desire to make tangible change to the sport he loves as well as to give back to the country and help the youth.”
“As professionals, we are always engaged in our careers and do not have the time to help the youth. I believe now is the time to give back and help the youth in sport,” Thamane explained.
According to the CEDA CEO, sport has changed so much and commercialised since his playing days, and should therefore be looked at as a potential employer for the youth.
“If elected to head BSA, my intention is to have softball privatised. Right now, aside from the government grants, softball has only one sponsor, which is BOFINet. We need to make it attractive so we can bring in more sponsors and turn it professional,” he opined.
Thamane said he is pained by the fact that while softball used to do well and was in par with athletics and football, the two continue to flourish and attract sponsors while softball has on the other hand regressed.
“We have to appreciate that others who have led us before have tried and laid a foundation, but now is the time to usher a new dawn for softball,” he said, adding that “over the years, I have had success at CEDA and I want to take this experience to softball and see if it can be transformed.”
Already, the BSA presidential hopeful said if elected, he intends to develop a robust strategy with which to lead softball into what he has termed a ‘New Dawn.’
“Softball as it is currently does not have a strategy and therefore has no point of reference. This needs to change if softball is to evolve,” he explained.
Thamane said his strategy for softball will focus on, among others, financial sustainability, governance and ethical conduct as well as operational effectiveness and efficiency, just to mention but three.
“To achieve financial sustainability, we have to come with strategies to lure sponsors to the sport as well as to generate our own income. It will not be easy, but we will have to find ways to ensure the sport can sustain itself,” he explained.
“This therefore calls for operational efficiency and effectiveness. The plan is to have a fully fledged secretariat with an operational office to drive and execute our strategy,” he added.
“We have also assembled a team of selfless potential committee members who are interested in developing the sport and not their own agendas,” he concluded.
