Francistown Regional Football Association (FRAFA) this week unveiled sponsorship deals worth P160 000. Ever since ascending to the chairmanship position of the regional football association a few months ago, Maokaneng Bontshetse has been spending sleepless nights drumming up sponsorship for his region.
Speaking at the event to officially unveil the sponsors at Adansonia Hotel, the seemingly elated Bontshetse pointed out that it was not easy to convince the sponsors to come on board.
It is through persistence and determination that the sponsorship deals materialised, Bontshetse said.
Jacaranda English Medium School sponsored women’s football league with P40 000 while Adansonia Hotel and World Group of Companies both popped out P60 000 each to be used for division 1 and 2. BM Garments and Bokgoni Holdings collaborated to provide referees with kits. The companies also provided trophies and medals to be awarded to the champions at the end of the season.
The chairman admitted that it is an uphill battle to secure sponsorships in Francistown as the economy of the second city is on its knees after the closure of Tati Nickel mine.
“Even the grant we receive from the mother body, Botswana Football Association (BFA) is not enough to run football in our region. Our region is wide and vast as it covers areas as far as Nata,” Bontshetse proclaimed.
To convince sponsors to come on board, Bontshetse said first he had put his house in order to ensure it does not scare away potential sponsors with negative reports.
“There were reports that some of the teams in region were failing to honour games for various reasons while other teams were deliberately fielding defaulters. To curb such incidents we formed a highly competent disciplinary committee to deal with such incidents,” he underscored. Bontshetse confidently said since the establishment of the disciplinary committee led by private attorney Solomon Olatotse, their leagues has run smoothly.
BFA president, Maclean Letshwiti commended sponsors who extended a helping hand to the development of football.
Letshwiti said before he became BFA president, the business community did not want to be associated with the football governing body because it was infamous of stealing the money.
“Even hotels such as Adansonia could not extend credit to the association but today things have turned around. Currently the association is among the Top 4 African football associations that are financially prudent and sound,” he declared.
Letshwiti said by sponsoring football, companies are assisting the government in the development of all-rounded human beings because sport has all the values of developing a human being. He added, “Sport take children out of the streets, teach them discipline and give them hope.” He admitted that without the support of the business community, the association will never develop sport.