21 Aug 2022

Twelve athletes have benefited from the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) Elite Scholarship Fund this year.

BNSC marketing and communications manager, Modiri Ontitile, said the commission had made some changes to the fund to ensure that athletes excelled both in academics and sport.

The intention, he said, was for athletes to turn professional.

“We don’t want a situation whereby when we talk about their best performance, it will be before they left the country. We want to see them improve, so that others can even get lucrative endorsements,” Ontitile said.

He said Elite Scholarship Fund was established in 1997 to assist high performing and talented student-athletes in gaining access to quality tertiary sporting-excellence educational institutions, whilst attaining success at the highest levels within their chosen sport.

Since inception, he said, the fund had benefited over 100 athletes from athletics, basketball, boxing, cricket, golf, karate, football, tennis, volleyball, swimming, cycling and judo.

He said for athletes to benefit from the fund, they should be citizens of Botswana, aged 21 years and below, be admitted by a tertiary institution and have consistently been in medal positions in national and regional championships over a minimum period of two preceding years.

Ontitile said the athletes’ academic fees were covered by the Department of Tertiary Education and Financing (DTEF) with the student athletes signing a binding contract with the DTEF and being guided by its regulations for the duration of the contract.

He said BNSC provided equipment and sport attire as determined from time to time as well as associated costs such as transportation to identified activities, training camps and competitions, as approved.

“Funds will be used for lodging; transport or travelling, medical, services, insurance, training expenses at approved training courses, clubs or centres and purchase, hire, or transport of equipment, he said.

This year’s beneficiaries are: swimming’s Naya Hughes, who will be studying Degree in Animal and Poultry Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic in the United States, while Ruvarashe Gondo will study for a Degree in Sport Management at St Andrew University.

Lizo Skweyiya and Nathan Tau from football will study Business Degree and BSC Business administration and Clemson University and Post University in the US respectively.

Baboloki Silwane of volleyball will be at Fairleigh Dickinson in the US doing BSC Construction Engineering, while Lame Diboko of basketball will be studying BSC Management at St Francis College still in the US.

Tsholofelo Tsiang will be at Baton Community College doing associate degree in Liberal Arts, while Botlhe Lekgari of netball will do Bachelor of Marketing and Communications at Australian Eynesbury College.

From Motorsport, Kosmas Mamaloukos, will be based in South Africa at Aerospace Training Academy, doing aircraft maintenance management.

Kato Ramahobo of cycling will be based at Bath University in the United Kingdom, where he will start a foundation programme.

Rugby’s Wian Herbst will study BA Software Development at Notre Dame College in USA, while Karabo Tshuma of Golf will be at Nottingham Trent University in UK, studying BSC Biomedical Sciences. Ends