{"id":66918,"date":"2025-04-11T17:29:34","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T17:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support"},"modified":"2025-04-11T17:29:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T17:29:34","slug":"passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support","title":{"rendered":"PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Botswana. <\/strong><\/span><b>Pointing to its partnership with the BAA and as a model, PASSOBO says there is enormous untapped potential for Paralympic sports in Botswana\u2019s 98 000 people living with disabilities that needs direct involvement of NSAs to bring out.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The Paralympics Association of Botswana (PASSOBO) is calling on National Sports Associations (NSAs) across the country to step up and support development of para-sports.<\/p>\n<p>The organisation, which serves as the umbrella body for all sports involving people with disabilities, says that without the direct involvement of NSAs, its efforts to grow the sector will continue to stall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need them to support us with coaches, athletes and officials,\u201d said the president of PASSOBO, Tshepho Mafereka, in a telephone interview. \u201cWe cannot manage to attract athletes from different NSAs alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paralympic Games<\/p>\n<p>Mafereka pointed to the successful partnership between PASSOBO and the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) as a model. Thanks to the BAA\u2019s inclusion of para-athletes in its competitions, Botswana has consistently been represented in athletics at the Paralympic Games.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is what we need from other sporting codes. Volleyball, basketball, and others should do the same,\u201d Mafereka emphasised.<\/p>\n<p>He cited a recent United Nations study that showed that Botswana is home to approximately 98,000 people living with disabilities, saying the figure represents enormous untapped potential for Paralympic sports in the country.<\/p>\n<p>More diverse<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to attract people with different disabilities to join sports,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t always send only visually impaired athletes to the Paralympics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mafereka stressed the importance of broadening Botswana\u2019s representation in Paralympic disciplines, especially in codes like wheelchair basketball and para-table tennis. His goal is to ensure a more diverse team for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is what I will fight for with my committee over the next four years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Eye on 2028<\/p>\n<p>Mafereka noted that the most accessible and potentially high-impact sports for people with disabilities \u2013 such as wheelchair basketball and para-tennis \u2013 must receive greater focus.<\/p>\n<p>His committee aims to create pathways for athletes in these codes, starting at the grassroots level. He called on NSAs to create inclusive policies and frameworks that ensure that para-athletes are not just an afterthought but an integral part of national sports planning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the only way we can grow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Botswana<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Botswana. Pointing to its partnership with the BAA and as a model, PASSOBO says there is enormous untapped potential for Paralympic sports in Botswana\u2019s 98 000 people living with disabilities that needs direct involvement of NSAs to bring out. The Paralympics Association of Botswana (PASSOBO) is calling on National Sports Associations (NSAs) across [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":66917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-66918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Botswana. Pointing to its partnership with the BAA and as a model, PASSOBO says there is enormous untapped potential for Paralympic sports in Botswana\u2019s 98 000 people living with disabilities that needs direct involvement of NSAs to bring out. The Paralympics Association of Botswana (PASSOBO) is calling on National Sports Associations (NSAs) across [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-11T17:29:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-11T17:29:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support\"},\"wordCount\":395,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2025\/04\/sm_1744381173.313569.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support\",\"name\":\"PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support - Botswana\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2025\/04\/sm_1744381173.313569.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-11T17:29:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2025\/04\/sm_1744381173.313569.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2025\/04\/sm_1744381173.313569.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/\",\"name\":\"Botswana\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support - Botswana","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support","og_description":"Africa-Press &#8211; Botswana. Pointing to its partnership with the BAA and as a model, PASSOBO says there is enormous untapped potential for Paralympic sports in Botswana\u2019s 98 000 people living with disabilities that needs direct involvement of NSAs to bring out. The Paralympics Association of Botswana (PASSOBO) is calling on National Sports Associations (NSAs) across [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support","og_site_name":"Botswana","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-04-11T17:29:34+00:00","author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support","datePublished":"2025-04-11T17:29:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support"},"wordCount":395,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2025\/04\/sm_1744381173.313569.jpg","keywords":["Botswana"],"articleSection":["all news","sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support","name":"PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support - Botswana","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2025\/04\/sm_1744381173.313569.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-11T17:29:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2025\/04\/sm_1744381173.313569.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2025\/04\/sm_1744381173.313569.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/passobo-urges-stronger-nsa-support#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PASSOBO Urges Stronger NSA Support"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/","name":"Botswana","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}