Leemisa Thuseho
LESOTHO Badminton Association (LESBAD) president Moneoang Leshota has been re-elected a member of the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) council.
Leshota was re-elected during the BCA’s virtual elective annual general meeting on Saturday.
This will be her second term in the committee after she was first elected in 2017. She has been serving as chairperson of the BCA Women in Badminton Committee.
The elections saw Seychelles’ Michel Bau and Algerian Messaoud Zobiri retaining their positions as president and deputy respectively. The duo was unopposed. Chipo Zumburani from Zimbabwe also retained her position as treasurer.
Leshota told the Lesotho Times this week that 11 candidates from different countries were elected into the council as ordinary. They will all be assigned roles in the council’s different committees at a later stage.
The newly elected committee will be in office until 2023 and Lesotho said it was imperative for countries like Lesotho to be represented in decision-making bodies.
“The BCA council is made up of people from different countries like Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa,” Lesotho said.
“Countries like Lesotho that are still developing their Badminton also need to be represented in the council to make the big countries aware of their needs. We want our voices to be heard and we want to grow.”
Although she was nominated by the local badminton association to stand for the elections, there was still a chance that she would be nominated other affiliating badminton associations on the continent.
“I am thankful to Lesotho’s badminton family. They are passionate about the growth of the sport. My promise to them is that I will work hard to improve the sport and perhaps have locals competing at in world championships and even the Olympics.”
Meanwhile, the BCA is looking forward to hosting the All Africa Under-15 and Under-19 Championships in Benin from 22 August to 1 September this year. The federation has already announced that it will support national associations for their teams to attend the championships.
While LESBAD is willing to send a team to the games, they are yet to get the full details about the support that the BCA is promising.
“In most cases, the BCA doesn’t take the full responsibility to sponsor teams to such competitions. It contributes part of the costs, so we are yet to find out how they are going to work this time around and whether the Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission will be able to help us in the event that there is such a need,” Leshota said.
