05 Oct 2017

The moment of truth surely beckons for both  local athletes and key stakeholders in the country’s sporting fraternity as all roads will tomorrow be leading to Boipuso Hall for the 37th edition of the Botswana National Sports Commission awards.

It is envisaged to be a night of glitz and glamour as athletes will have to trade their tracksuits and sporting gear for tuxedos and designer outfits with the hope to take centre stage and get rewarded for their exudate on the tracks, fields and dojos.

With a rich history that dates back to 1981, this spectacle rewards overall annual performance and will continue to exist parallel to the affiliates’ performance incentives scheme which rewards performance for official international competitions on a case by case basis and other instruments designed by either the Commission or its affiliates to recognise or reward performance.  

Held under the theme, Now and Beyond, the awards will honour and celebrate the best performing athletes gauging their performance over the period April 2016 to March 2017 across the various sporting codes.

The spotlight will without doubt be on the prestigious sportsman  and sportswoman of the year awards, which has pited athletics’ Nijel Amos, Thuso Mosutha of chess and karateka Ofentse Bakwadi against each other while Thato

Malunga of karate, Onkemetse Francis of chess and Christine Botlogetswe of athletics will compete for the Sportswoman of the Year.

It is uncertain which side the pendulum will swing between Amos, Mosutha and Bakwadi in the sportsman of the year category as all the competitors are achievers in their respective sporting codes.

Over the period under review, Amos is the reigning world junior record holder in 800m as well as 800m gold medalist at the Africa Senior Championships 2016. He also represented Botswana at the 2016 Rio Olympic games.  

 Mosutha on the other hand, represented Botswana at the 2016 World Chess Olympiad in Baku, where he qualified as a Candidate Master.

He also won Gold at the 2016 Swaziland International Open Chess Championships.

However, anyone who rules Amos out should do so at their own peril as the Marobela- born has for years been the poster boy of Botswana athletics.

Two time gold medalist at the World Championships in Australia, Bakwadi seems to be the hot favorite to walk away with the award.  The much decorated karateka also won gold at the Zone VI Karate Championships and has two gold medals from the World Championships in Australia.

The female nominees also flew the Botswana flag higher in different codes they partook in, with Malunga obtaining gold medal at the Zone VI Karate Championships and is a national champion with six gold medals from the 2016 national championships.

The country has over the years only produced four women international FIDE masters and Francis is among the four.  
She won 90 per cent of international open tournaments locally and led the Botswana female senior team at the 2016 World Chess Championships in Baku.

Furthermore, Botlogetswe was the national 400m champion in 2016, while coming fourth in the African championships in Durban, and representing the country at the Rio Olympics.
Meanwhile, other nominees in different categories include:

NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR: Men Karate Team (Oratile Caiphus, Lemogang Koolopile, Thabang Setshogo, Teto Wakwena, Karabo Rantlole)
Men 4 X 4 Relay team (Baboloki Thebe, Nijel Amos, Isaac Makwala, Leaname Maotoanong, Onkabetse Nkobolo, Karabo Sibanda)

SPORT CODE OF THE YEAR: Botswana Cricket Association, Botswana Chess Federation, Botswana Athletics Association

COACH OF THE YEAR: Peter Molefhe (Karate) and Mogomotsi Otsetswe (Athletics), Thebe Setlalekgosi (boxing)

UMPIRE/REFEREE OF THE YEAR: Edgar Serole (volleyball), Joshua Bondo (football), Gaone Poane (tennis)

JUNIOR FEMALE SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR: Besa Masite (chess), Tshegofatso Tsiang (tennis), Galefele Moroko (athletics)

JUNIOR MALE SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR: Gavin Mogopa (Judo), Thabang Setshego (Judo), Karabo Sibanda (athletics)

SPORTS ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR: Dorothy Tlagae (Judo), Tshenolo Maruatona (chess). ENDS