Nine (9) young Batswana women rugby players have been enrolled to take part in the “Try Together” Rugby Mentorship Programme for young girls in rugby.
The initiative is facilitated by Gorata Kgathi and Doreen Ketshabile. The initiative aims to help the nine young women, who will be the first cohort, to enhance their skills in coaching, officiating, and leadership.
Supported and recognized by the Botswana Rugby Union and World Rugby, “Try Together” is a step towards gender equity in sport. Through this initiative, the nine selected girls are expected to benefit from the wisdom of local and international mentors, to become future trailblazers.
The nine selected local mentees are Scarlette Motsi, Vetina Eloas, Hazen, Lethabo Kebabobe, Botho Bosele, Bridget Majama, Refilwe Kgweenyane, Kebafilwe Mfolwe and Kutlo Mualefe.
“In each strand, we have nine girls and three under each category. For each category, there is a local mentor who has been assigned to the girls while each of the nine girls has an international mentor individually. These mentors have exceeded expectation in their field of work hence they were selected for this programme,” Kgathi emphasized.
She further said, the vision is to expand to more strands and discipline for rugby with the inclusion of mentorship for children who desire to pursue first aid, strength and conditioning to name a few. “Eventually we want to include other sport codes but it will only cater for women because we are driving towards achieving gender equality in sport. Women are still left behind hence why we saw the need to help fill this gap,” she said.
“We believe that everyone needs to do something in their little corners and eventually it will lead to something great. We also want to see our programme expanding across Botswana and throughout the continent,” Kgathi concluded.
Commenting on the program, Women and Sport Botswana (WASBO) Chairperson, Keenese Katisenge- Tizhani, stressed the importance of inclusion and women taking up space in sports. She emphasized that true progress ‘comes when women are not just participants but leaders and decision-makers in the sporting world.’
For her part, Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC), Gender Equality and Olympic Education Commissions Chairperson, Tebo Segaise, applauded the initiative and emphasized the importance of embracing opportunities presented by BNOC. She further encouraged women in sport to step forward and take full advantage of the platforms available to them and flourish.
