By ‘Mamohaila Rampo
MASERU
New Millennium Taekwondo club held Lesotho‘s flag high after winning in the Botswana Open Games Taekwondo Tournament last week.
The team competed against clubs from Swaziland and other home clubs in Botswana where out of 38 students that traveled to Botswana for this competition, 36 won medals; of which 20 acquired gold medals, ten silver and six bronze. They competed in all stages starting from the pre-cadets aged three to four years, cadets aged between 11 to 14 years, juniors of 14-17 and seniors aged 18 and above.
Talking to Informative Sport, New Millennium Taekwondo Coach, Ramosoeu Nkuebe, said that they were really proud of their team‘s achievement. He further explained that they were no strangers to international tournaments and that they always made it to the top position. The coach indicated that earlier this year they competed in Swaziland where they acquired position one. Nkuebe said that in the whole of Southern Africa, New Millennium Taekwondo team takes first position.
Even though they were number one, Nkuebe observed that Team Swaziland was the most competitive out of all the teams, he said that next year they aim to go to Swaziland so that they can exchange knowledge because Team Swaziland use different techniques in Taekwondo.
“Swaziland uses the more advanced and recent techniques while we master the old and traditional taekwondo. Even though it will be from our own pockets, we are willing to go and learn because we have figured earlier that if we want to keep taekwondo alive, we have to make sacrifices,” said Nkuebe.
Another New Millennium Coach, Mahloane Gerard Mahloane, mentioned that in Botswana, they had minor setbacks like dealing with currencies and adapting to the hot weather condition during the competitions.
He also indicated that self-sponsoring is a huge challenge for the entire team.
“Yes, not all of them managed to cover all their costs but we had to make sacrifices as a team to ensure that all the students can participate in the competition,” said Mahloane.
To prepare for these competitions, Mahlaone said that they went through intensive training, adding that they prioritized training each time they prepared for tournaments.
The coaches also pleaded with the incoming government to increase the budget for sporting activities, adding that for physical sports like Taekwondo, there was a dire need for medics and advanced first aid kits for students.
