BY;Phodiso Gaebepe
GABORONE; The new artificial turf was officially opened by the Minister of Youth Sports and Culture and Member of Parliament for Tonota constituency hounorable Thapelo Olopeng at Lekidi football Centre on the 27th September 2018.
Last year 25th September 2017, the official ground breaking and handing over of the contract to the contractor took place in the same place to begin this glorious project.
As is a norm in our country many thought this project will take longer than expected to finish. Most of these types of projects in our country always faces challenges and take long to finish but not thus one.
Of course there were delays but today we celebrated the official opening, the launch of this new baby. Many attended this event to come and see with their eyes hear with their own ears on what really was the secret behind the success of the project.
This new artificial turf will come in handy especially for the development of Botswana football.
Among the attendees was the National team coach, the Zebras Major David Bright, Gaborone Central Member of Parliament, Phenyo Butale, and many other prominent figures.In his speech, the President of Botswana Football Association, MCclean Letshwiti said this is the beginning of great things to come which he promised when campaigning for the presidency. He said the focus is on the development from grass roots level. Facilities like this are very important in the expansion of the game.
” integrity is back in football, this is the first occasion to bring delight into your heart, in October you will be here to launch a sponsorship towards youth development, in November we will call you back here to launch another sponsorship dedicated to youth development, which is football” Said Letshwiti.
He went on to say that it is upon the Minister Thapelo Olopeng and his government to solicit a sponsorship or avail funds to the building of the university of sports. That he concludes his plans for the term.
Olopeng added that this project will really have an impact in adding value to Botswana football. It has been long when such was needed especially that the ground in Lekidi was just one. We will see now the growth of the game because of such.
When interviewing a few under 20 women’s team, they were also happy about this project as now there will be able to come for camp and train at Lekidi. They said before this pitch, they struggled as when the senior team is on camp, they will be forced to train with their teams and only report for camp on the day of the game. They said this will allow them to camp at the same time with the senior team.
This is really a step in the right direction for our football. The issue of shortage of grounds will be curbed . This has really come as a blessing.
