Gilbert will not defend his seat at the BRU Annual General Meeting (AGM) next weekend. He is likely to be succeeded by former BRU president, Bob Lekan or current vice-president, Joseph Thokweng who have shown interest in the top seat. Gilbert said there are many challenges that come with running BRU and aspirants should be ready to deal with the problems. He said the new leader should be prepared to sacrifice time in order to lead the union to new heights. Gilbert was part of an administration that negotiated a P1 million sponsorship for BRU.
He said the challenge facing sports is that there are very few full-time administrators. After four years at the helm, he leaves a happy man, satisfied with his achievements at the rugby body. Gilbert said there are now over 100 schools that play rugby, compared to 15 when he took over the reigns from Lekan. Under his watch, the women national team competed at the international level - in the Sevens - while BRU hosted the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) tournament three times. The Botswana national men team world ranking improved from 85 to 75 although Gilbert believes there is room for improvement. He said that though they managed to get sponsorship, finance remains a challenge. This has resulted in lack of sufficient facilities both at school and club level.
