News
Prince William visits the Coaching for Conservation project in Botswana
15th June 2010
Prince William met young football fans in Botswana today and tried his hand at blowing a vuvuzela horn.
Prince William, who is Patron of the Tusk Trust, was visiting the northern town of Maun to see youngsters taking part in the Coaching for Conservation (C4C) project which marries football skills to wildlife protection.
Pupils from every primary school in the area were divided into groups to learn soccer skills while adopting the persona of different animals such as wild dogs - efficient at working as a team.
As he toured a sports stadium in Maun, Prince William saw "cheetahs", "hyenas" and "elephants" being put through their paces.
He met 11-year-old Rebaone Badubi who was holding a green plastic vuvuzela and encouraged him to blow the instrument which can register noise levels louder than a chainsaw.
When handed the horn, The Prince said: "I can't blow it. OK, I will give it a go".
After barely making a sound, The Prince joked: "There you go - embarrassed myself again - it's all good."
Also at the event was US singer Joe Jonas, part of the popular Jonas Brothers group with his two siblings, who was in Botswana on a charity visit, and South African footballer Lucas Radebe, who is now retired.
Speaking at the event, which involved hundreds of primary school children, Prince William said: "Sport gives us a sense of purpose and belonging through being part of a team. It gives us fitness and health, it gives us respect for the skills and talents of others.
"These qualities are shared by the extraordinary creatures around us, particularly here in Botswana.
"The wild dogs who work as a team and can run rings round even the best organised defence in the World Cup - even Germany's.
"The slowest cheetah that ever lived can beat Ronaldo to the ball. The impala's awareness and agility makes even Lucas Radebe's awesome dribbling skills look, well, rather like mine."
Later, Prince William volunteered to go in goal and try to save penalties taken by some of the children.
He took up his place on the goal line and watched as the first shot missed the target.
But then a succession of mini strikers deftly placed the ball past The Prince.
When he finally made a save, he said: "That's one I've got."
Later Prince William was later taken around the Laboratory for Wildlife Chemistry run by the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust.
Dressed in a white lab coat, he was shown how chemicals gathered from animals in the wild were being analysed in a bid to determine how they use scent to communicate and draw territorial boundaries.
Prince William said he was excited about the work and added: "Domestic dogs can tell us apart by our scent so obviously as humans we have our own individual smells.
He later left the country to join up with his brother Prince Harry in Lesotho, the second stop on their tour of southern Africa, to see first-hand the work carried out by Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale.