Nawa has been awarded a four-year sponsorship by Auburn University in Montgomery. It is the same university where Masego Ntshingane was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the Class of 2018. Born sixteen years ago in Orapa, he will now have a chance to make a mark at the same university. “I started having an interest in tennis when I was six years and my major breakthrough was becoming part of the top 10 in Africa Under 14. My highlights in 2024 were winning the Under-16 African Junior Championship (AJC), with my close friend, Denzel Seetso. I also won the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Under-18 Singles title and I also won my first matches in the Davis Cup held in Botswana. It was my first ITF title, something that I had been struggling to achieve for years. I also managed to reach a new career high of 357,” he said.
Nawa explained that he was able to get the Auburn University scholarship by working hard and trying to play the best tennis constantly as well as making sure he does not fall too far behind academically. “It means a lot to me to be able to go to America, play College Tennis and I feel I will also be able to unlock more opportunities. My dream is to go professional in tennis, to be able to play alongside the best players in the world,” he said. Nawa said his role model is Dominic Thiem. “Although he has retired, when he played I always enjoyed watching and always admired the strong fighting spirit he had, I try to take it on myself,” he said. Nawa said his favourite technique is forehand because he enjoys hitting winners and opening up the court with it and most of the time he uses it to finish the point. The Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) president, Oaitse Thipe, said Nawa has been granted a full scholarship by Auburn University. “It is good to see our players from development programmes progress to play College Tennis, which is competitive. The university will be taking care of him until we need him for the Davis Cup in July 2025,” Thipe said.
Meanwhile, Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Refilwe Pitso Gabatshwarwe has been awarded the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) Elite Scholarship. She will study Bachelor of Science, Mathematics and Computer Science at Texas Tech University. Gabatshwarwe follows in the footsteps of Besa Masaiti, Naledi Marape, and Arona Moshoboro. Gabatshwarwe is a decorated chess player in her own right, after starting her chess career at nine year whilst a Standard Three pupil in Moshupa. She burst into the limelight in 2016 when she won a silver medal in the Under-12 category at the Botswana Youth Chess Championships. Since then, she has always been on the podium. Some of her achievements include the 2024 Metropolitan National Chess Championships (bronze medal), the 2024 National Team Trials (silver medal), the 2024 Botho University and Tertiary Chess Championships (gold medal), and the 2024 National Team Selection Finals (silver medal).
In 2022, she was the Metropolitan National Chess Champion amongst others. Gabatshwarwe won the Junior Female Sportswoman of the Year for 2020. She was part of the national team that competed at the World Online Chess Olympiad.
