The awards ceremony is scheduled for March 25 at the Lekidi Football Centre. The organiser of the event, Kesego Okie told Sport Monitor that the event is meant to celebrate excellence and honour women in sports. “We want to do something special, so the awards will be held at Lekidi football pitch. The pitch is where most if not all games are played, so it will give the event the ambiance it deserves. Women continue to excel in sports but they are not recognised enough when compared to their male counterparts,” she said. She also said the awards are an inspiration from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who have introduced the women awards. Okie said the awards are also meant to inspire young girls. Okie said the first edition of the awards will cover activities that happened between January 2021 and December 2022.
She explained that the awards have been given a two-year period due to the negative impact of COVID-19, adding that there were not much activities happening during that period. She said the next awards will celebrate events of one year. Okie said they are not only celebrating women but will recognise anybody else who contributes to the growth of women sports, including men and the corporate world. “We have a category called HeforShe Champion, which celebrates men who are equally passionate about the growth of women sports in Botswana. We will be recognising organisations that have demonstrated full commitment to the growth of women sports. We also have organisations that inject funding to the women sports and some of them contribute in kind,” she said. Okie stated that they are still looking for partners to come onboard although they already have some. She said they are looking for organisations that believe in growth. “The awards are self nominations, National Sport Associations (NSAs) can also nominate. The participation should be recognised by Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC). The NSAs will endorse the nominations,” she said.
