Botswana Darts Association (BODA) preparations for the upcoming African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Darts Championships, set for August this year, are reportedly proceeding smoothly.
This was confirmed by BODA Public Relations Officer (PRO) Thato Maphorisa in an interview with Times Sport on Tuesday. Maphorisa mentioned that over the weekend on Saturday the 30th, they are to host preliminary tournaments at Lotsane Senior Secondary School in Palapye to select the national team that will be participating in the Region 5 Championships.
He explained that they began their first round in Francistown in March, where 56 players from various teams—such as Golden Flights, Legends, Nxai, and Orapa darts clubs in the Northern region, and Police A and B, BDF A, and Jwaneng darts clubs in the Southern region—were successfully selected.
Maphorisa indicated that they are yet to trim the player pool down to only 26 across the Under-25, veterans, and senior men and women categories.
Maphorisa highlighted that they are to remain with 3 women and 3 men in the Under-25 category, 3 women and 3 men under the veterans, as well as 8 men and 6 women in the seniors category.
He highlighted that the national team, which will be formed by darts players from diverse teams, will participate in the Region 5 tournament set for August at the Aquarian Tide Hotel in Gaborone.
The BTO PRO said they are expecting competitors and fans from various states, including Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, South Africa, Namibia, and Lesotho, to grace the event.
He outlined that in terms of perfecting and sharpening playing skills, they have been participating in friendly tournaments alongside the Northern and Southern region leagues.
Maphorisa stated that Botswana has a lot of potential and talented darts players. He added that though the sport is not recognized that much compared to other sports codes, it is experiencing growth in terms of players and professionalism.
He stressed that the main challenge they are currently facing is a shortage of sponsors, as they currently have the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) as their sole sponsor. Maphorisa explained that most sponsors come on board only where there is a great return on investment.
The BODA PRO emphasized his hope that hosting Region 5 will be a great door-opening opportunity for sponsors to invest in them. He highlighted that one of the critical resources they need is dartboards.
Maphorisa explained that a single dartboard costs 2,000 Pula, adding that for hosting, they need more than 20 dartboards, which will cost them around 40,000 Pula.
He averred that BODA currently has no single board; therefore, they resort to borrowing from other darts teams. The BODA PRO encouraged sponsors to come on board to support and groom the darts sporting code.
