THE Melville City Football Club playing strip has gone international after the club sent some of its retired kits to teams in Botswana.
Billy Boatametse Mogojwa studied in Perth from 2013 to 2015, joining the Melville club’s Masters group in 2014.
He won the Fairest and Best trophy in his first season and the Coach’s Award in 2015.
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READ NOW“At the end of my stay in Australia in December 2015, I made a request to Melville FC for donations of retired soccer kits and as a result I managed to get about four complete sets,” he said.
“I have since given out those sets to two social soccer clubs.”
One team comprises Mr Mogojwa’s colleagues from the Okavango Research Institute at the University of Botswana.
The other is the Moremogolo Social Club, which plays on Sundays and consists of retirees from lower division clubs.
The teams are not registered with the football association in Botswana which runs the competitions and leagues.
“There are so many of these kind of clubs and majority of them cannot afford to buy soccer kits/equipment and the resources to run their teams,” he said.
“My plan with retired soccer kits is to organise a soccer tournament here in Maun, Botswana.
“The number of the participating teams will be determined by number of kits sets and at the end of the tournament each team will get a set.”
Just sending the kits over presents a financial challenge.
Melville City is calling for support to send over more kits, including boots. It costs about $550 to ship 20kg of gear to Botswana. Anyone that would like to help can email bradhames@gmail.com.