MANGAUNG BECOMES CONSTITUTIONAL

Administrators from Bloemfontein, Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu will converge at the University of the Free State over the weekend of 4^th October 2008 to form the Mangaung Basketball Association (MBA). Informal meetings which have taken place formed an integral part of the decision to form the Association. There has never been support for the representatives of the area in terms of providing a platform of development. Thus the association will become an anchor of the development programmes within the Mangaung Local Municipality.The committee will offer direction towards a prosperous era for the game in the region. A uniform voice of basketball will open many opportunities for the followers in the region. From Saturday, unilateral decisions which divided the basketball community will be a thing of the past. There will be in place a clear path which will set the way for basketball administration at the root level. Moreover the association will enter into a relationship with the Mangaung Local Municipality and advice on issues which will contribute to the growth of the sport.

There is growing concern that basketball does not have representation on strategic committees in the region. Members of the committee will be deployed to structures such as the Mangaung Sports Council. Deployments such as these will allay concerns of misrepresentations and ensure accountability of the representatives. This is the birth of a collective effort where the history of individualistic administration is prevalent.

The committee will have a huge mandate of ensuring mass participation at all levels of the sport. It will have to enter into a partnership with the municipality and introduce the sport to rural communities. It will play an influential role to source sponsorship for the basketball courts to be constructed in the mentioned areas.

It will also permeate the lacklustre schools basketball and develop programmes which will ensure that the sport’s popularity increases.

Information supplied by Setlogelo Lucas Radebe

Tags: Basketball, Mangaung Basketball Association, Mangaung Local Municipality, Mangaung Sports Council, MBA