Sono inducted into Hall of Fame
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday November 1, 2019 11:31
The Botswana Sport Hall of Fame held its sixth ceremony on Wednesday where Sono was inducted.
He was a household name in local football having played for the then Copper Chiefs, Township Rollers and the Zebras. At Township Rollers, Sono was part of the mid 1980s Rollers team that dominated the football scene winning five league titles.
Considered by many as the pioneering voice of professional football in the country, Sono formed Satmos Football Club in 1996 to take over the franchise of the struggling Copper Chiefs.
His contribution to the development of football in Phikwe was recognised and the council arena there was renamed Sam Sono Stadium.
In 1999, the deceased was awarded a Presidential Certificate of Honour. Sono passed away in 2004.
On Wednesday, Sono was inducted together with Sensei Socca Moruakgomo of karate and Tsietsi ‘Shakes’ Kebualemang of professional boxing. Moruakgomo told Mmegi Sport that he did not expect to be an inductee.
“I do what I do because of passion and I do not expect any award from it. Despite that I am happy to have been recognised. It is an indication that I am doing something right. We started from nothing, we kept kicking and we took karate to where it is today,” he said.
Moruakgomo said his plan is for Botswana Karate Association to involve them more in the running of the association. He said as a teacher, he would continue to produce more students and this weekend he is taking a team to South Africa for training.
For his part, Kebualemang said being an inductee is a huge honour after a long time in the sport. He said finally his hard work has paid off. “I started off as a boxer in 1968 and became a coach. I then became an administrator until today as a president of the Professional Boxing Association of Botswana (PBAB). It was a rough road for us because we did not have resources like today,” he said.
Kebualemang said modern athletes and officials are able to receive allowances and that is due to the push from previous administrators.
“When I came from Germany as a coach in 1989, I managed to convince the government through the then Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) to allow boxing to compete outside the country,” he said.
Kebualemang was the national team coach when boxing brought a medal from the 1991 All Africa Games. The Games were qualifiers for the 1992 Olympic Games.
Kebualemang was in the ringside, coaching France Mabiletsa when he won a bronze medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games.