11 Nov 2021

Longtime participation and dedication has earned Letsholo Letsholo, Freedom Diraditsile, Glody Dube and Boyce Sebetela induction into the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) Hall of Fame.

Speaking at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on November 10, Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Tumiso Rakgare expressed confidence that those inducted were phenomenal Batswana, trailblazers in their own right, who worked selflessly to bring glory to the country and put Botswana sport in a path towards future success.

“These Batswana did so with humility and devotion, with very little resources at their disposal, toiled to profile Botswana and guarantee her future success in sport.

We continue to enjoy the fruits of that success even today,” he said.

He thus congratulated the four for having played a big part in the development of sport in the country, hence would always be remembered as sports hall of famers as a way of preserving and maintaining the rich history and culture associated with Botswana sport.

Rakgare said he was happy that the Hall of Fame induction ceremony was not among the events that were either cancelled or postponed on account of COVID-19.

Such, he said, would have been a serious injustice to Botswana sport and Batswana because unlike sport awards, which honoured recent performances, the Hall of Fame concept was generally based on historical performances, commitment, service and achievements, usually over a sustained period of time.

“That is why we would not see the likes of Nijel Amos and Amantle Montsho being inducted when we all know well that they are among the most decorated athletes Botswana has ever had,” he said.

Rakgare said through the Hall Of Fame programme, which was in its eighth edition, forebears of current day athletes, coaches, administrators and other contributors were honoured.

Meanwhile, deserving to be among inductees, Dube was the first Motswana to qualify for Olympic Games finals held in Sydney, Australia in 2000.

After retirement from sport, Dube served in the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) as vice president.

He was also appointed general manager of Team Botswana to the Africa Youth Championships and that of the athletics team to the Rio 2016 Olympics Games.

Earning him a spot in the Hall of Fame, Sebetela served sport in various capacities.

He was a volleyball player and post retirement, he served as Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) president and later as the then Botswana National Sport Council (BNSC) chairperson.

As the then BNSC chairperson, he championed the development of the organisation’s first ever strategic plan, the Vision 2028, which remains its guiding document to date.

He also served in the African Union Sport Commission (AUSC) Region 5 secretariat executive committee.

As for Diraditsile, she was an active netball player from 1987 until she retired in 2012.

During her athletic era, she led her club, BDF Cats to numerous various accolades nationally, in addition to being a constant in the national team, which she captained for many years.

Diraditsile also held numerous officiating positions in netball and has been a committee member at various developmental levels.

She also served in various national team portfolios.

She holds a COSANA B+ umpire certificate and is an accredited Africa C Netball Tutor by the International Netball Federation.

On the other hand, Letsholo played a pivotal role in positioning the BAA to be one of the best federations in Botswana.

He is also among the very few administrators to have concurrently served in both the BNSC and Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC).

Letsholo has been involved in sport administration for over 27 years, specialising in the areas of finance, administration and strategic planning.

Of note, Letsholo was among the brains behind the Public Debt Service Fund (PDSF), where he was treasurer and a part of the team that raised funds that led to the building of the National Stadium. ENDS