Youth turn to football to fight social ills

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Youth turn to football to fight social ills
Youth turn to football to fight social ills

Africa-Press – Botswana. The Black Antelopes Football Academy (BAFA) will tap into the power of football to take youth off the streets and help them avoid risky behaviour.

Speaking at a mini tournament and kit launch of their Under 13, U-17 and U-21 teams at the Jet Fighters ground in Gabane over the weekend, BAFA team manager,

Akanyang Molatedi, said their ambitious project targeted youth aged 10 to 17 years.

The teams play in the Kweneng Regional Football Association youth league structures.

“We started in 2010 but affiliated to the Botswana Football Association (BFA) structures in 2017. To assist young people against drug abuse and other related social ills is part of our social responsibility programme. We want to see young people participating in football and stay actively involved in their academic calendar,” Molatedi said.

She said they engaged the Botswana Substance Abuse Support Network (BOSASNET), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that provides substance abuse education, prevention and rehabilitation services, to guide and advice young people on the dangers of drug abuse.

She said BOSASNET had pledged support for future endeavours and engaged young people through sport to deal with drug problems.

“There are alarming reports of rampant drug abuse by young people even at primary school level,” she said.

For his part, Rehabilitation Centre for Ex-offenders chairperson, Seabe Ramoruswana, said it was important to provide life skills training to young people, especially through sport, to reduce anti-social behaviour.

Ramoruswana, who is founder of Terror Classics Football club and had previously served an eight-year jail term, said as an ex-offender he had the responsibility to share experiences behind bars and offer constructive advice to young people not to fall into the same trap.

He advised young people to follow their dreams and make use of rehabilitation centres which offered preventative measures against wayward behaviour.

Meanwhile, during the mini tournament, BAFA U-13 lost 0-5 to Matebejana. In another game, BAFA U-17 played to a 2-all draw with BDF XI while BAFA’s U-21 side also played to a one-all draw with Terror Classic.

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