In Setswana language, the name ‘Tsoseletso’ means revival. And revival is what Tsoseletso Magang seeks to do, revive the fortunes of the ailing Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF).
‘Scud,’ as the Botswana sports Hall of Famer and former volleyball player and athlete is affectionately known is among those who have put their names in the hat to contest for the presidency of BVF.
‘Team scale up’ which Magang is leading is promising good governance and ethical conduct leadership that will be able to attract stakeholders to partner with volleyball.
Among her priorities, ‘Scud’ promises to turn the financial status of BVF around. The result oriented former volleyball president is further determined to instil principled governance towards achieving the desired goals.
“Better financial standing by engaging stakeholders who contribute to the programs and activities of volleyball” is what she and ‘Team Scale Up,’ promise to do.
Magang says her leadership will be guided by commitment and dedication, the team’s values that will develop and grow volleyball to attained its position in the sporting fraternity is based on efficiency, decisiveness, botho, inclusiveness and safety, and transparency.
“We must start putting commercialization of volleyball to action so that we improve the quality and attractiveness of the sport. The benefit we obtain must be representative of the input we make for us to grow the sport and individuals who commit their time and resources to run volleyball” Magang says unapologetically.
Along with Team Scale Up, she says they want to increase the visibility of volleyball through programs and participation. They vow to empower clubs as well as the various structures running volleyball.
“Volleyball is a cool sport and we intend to use that to attract players and empower clubs to give the players a reason to stay and grow with the sport, as they grow as individuals. We wish to attract as many former players to the running of the sport and for more people to form an audience of our activities” Magang further explained.
She also found BVF lacking in capacity building. Scud also wants to capacitate structures with people whose roles are clearly defined and are trained as much as possible to execute such roles diligently.
The participation of women in all structures is another area Magang and her team want to pay attention to. They seek to develop women and retain female players to stay on and run volleyball along with their male counterparts.
In the past local volleyball teams and national teams were ranked top regionally and among the top continentally. The coming leader promise to bring the glory days back.
Unlike other sporting codes that were affected and disrupted by Covid 19, the global pandemic found BVF already on sick bed. The federation could not find sponsors and could not play leagues. The sport was without league for almost four years. It is only this year that they started the national tournament in preparation for the BVF League.
BVF is going for election on Saturday.
