HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sports in
Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kal ...
is diverse and reasonably well-developed. Though football, netball and athletics remain the most popular sports, numerous other sporting codes, including cricket, rugby, judo, swimming and tennis are active in the national sporting landscape. The Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC), together with the
Botswana National Olympic Committee Botswana National Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee representing Botswana. It is also the body responsible for Botswana's representation at the Commonwealth Games. The Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) has facilitated ...
(BNOC) and Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture (MYSC) are responsible for the overall management of sport in the country. In addition, there over 30 National Sport Federations (NSFs) and three school sport federations Botswana stages the Botswana Games every two years, and has hosted the
2014 African Youth Games The 2nd African Youth Games took place in Gaborone, Botswana's capital city from 22 to 31 May 2014. The Games featured approximately 2000 athletes from 51 African countries competing in 21 sports. Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, ...
, International Working Group on Women in Sport, and the
2017 Netball World Youth Cup The Netball World Youth Cup Gaborone 2017 was the eighth staging of the tournament previously (until 2013) known as the World Youth Netball Championships, the premier competition in international netball, contested every four years. The 2017 tour ...
. They also bid to host the 2022 Summer Youth Olympics, but lost to eventual host
Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...
.


Sporting codes


Athletics


Running

Botswana has been doing well in athletics looking at the works of
Nijel Amos Nijel Carlos Amilfitano Amos (born 15 March 1994) is a Motswana middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. He won silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was Botswana's first ever Olympic medal. Early life Nijel Amos is from Mar ...
winning a silver medal in the men's 800 m race, the first Olympic medal for his country. At the
2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...
, Amos won the 800 meter Gold medal in 1:45.18. In the tactical affair, Amos maneuvered out of a box to pass World Record holder David Rudisha in the last 50 meters. Botswana also has a good athlete
Amantle Montsho Amantle Montsho (born July 4, 1983) is a female sprinter from Botswana who specializes in the 400 metres. She represented her country at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, reaching the final at the latter edition. She was the first woman to rep ...
who has won the silver medal at the 2006 African Championships and the gold medal representing the country at the
2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games took place between 11 and 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers is the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were held there. Besides Algeria, only Niger ...
. At the same Games she also finished fifth in the 200 metres. She ran a personal best and Botswana record of 49.83 seconds to win at the
2008 African Championships in Athletics The 16th African Championships in Athletics was held in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, from April 30 to May 4, 2008. The competition venue was the Addis Ababa Stadium. It is the largest Athletics event held in Ethiopia to date. It was t ...
. It remains the Championship record for the event. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in South Korea, she narrowly beat Alyson Felix to become Botswana's first World or Olympic track and field champion.


High jump

Another famous Botswana athlete is high jumper
Kabelo Kgosiemang Kabelo Kgosiemang (born 7 January 1986) is a high jumper from Botswana. He has won the high jump at the African Championships in Athletics on five consecutive occasions. His personal best, also the current national record of Botswana, was set in ...
, three times African champion.


Basketball

The Botswana national basketball team is the national basketball team of Botswana and is also a member of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) since 1997. The squad has not yet made appearances at the
FIBA World Championship The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...
, FIBA Africa Championship or
Basketball at the Summer Olympics Basketball at the Summer Olympics has been a sport for men consistently since Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a medal sport, basketball was held as a demonstration event in Basketball at the 1904 Summer O ...


Bridge

The card game bridge has a strong following; it was first played in Botswana over 30 years ago and grew in popularity during the 1980s. Many British expatriate school teachers informally taught the game in Botswana's secondary schools. The Botswana Bridge Federation (BBF) was founded in 1988 and continues to organise tournaments. Bridge has remained popular and the BBF has over 800 members. In 2007, the BBF invited the English Bridge Union to host a week-long teaching program in May 2008.


Cricket

Cricket was started in the country by expatriates from South Africa and the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...
. Botswana was elected to the ICC as an affiliate member in 2001, and played in the Africa Cup in Zambia the following year. After winning all their first round matches against Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, they beat Kenya in the semi-final before losing by 270 runs to South Africa in the final. In March 2004, they won the African affiliates qualifying tournament for the
2005 ICC Trophy The 2005 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament held in Ireland between 1 July and 13 July 2005. It was an international one-day tournament played over 50 overs per side between 12 Associate Members of the International Cricket Council. It served ...
, qualifying them for the next stage of qualification, the Africa Cricket Association Championships. They beat Nigeria and Tanzania in that tournament in Zambia in August, finishing fourth, thus missing out on qualification for their first
ICC Trophy The ICC World Cup Qualifier (previously called the ICC Trophy and officially known as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier) is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that serves as the culmination of the Cricket World Cup qualif ...
. They were rewarded for their performance in this tournament by being promoted to associate membership of the ICC in 2005. In 2006, they took part in Division Two of the
African region The Africa Scout Region is the divisional office of the World Scout Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with satellite offices in Cape Town, South Africa, and Dakar, Senegal. The Africa Region ...
of the World Cricket League, finishing second behind Tanzania. This qualified them for Division Five of the World Cricket League. In May 2008, Botswana travelled to Jersey to take part in the Division Five tournament. Although Botswana beat the Bahamas in Group B, it was their only group stage win and with three losses and one match abandoned due to rain they failed to make the semi-finals. Botswana finished sixth overall after defeating Germany but losing to Singapore in positional playoff matches. With only the top two from this tournament qualifying for Division Four in Tanzania later in the year, Botswana missed out on the chance to take their 2011 World Cup dream any further. In October 2008, Botswana took part in Division Two of the African region of the World Cricket League, finishing unbeaten and winning the tournament. This victory promoted them to Division One of the Africa Region, however the date and venue for this tournament is still to be determined. In August 2009, Botswana travelled to Singapore to participate in Division Six of the World Cricket League. Despite being competitive in most of their games, Botswana won only one of five group matches and finished fifth after beating Norway in a positional playoff. In May 2011, Botswana hosted the ICC World Cricket League Division Seven with a young squad and performed admirably well, winning three league stage matches against Norway, Japan and Germany but losing out to eventual champions Kuwait, 2nd placed Nigeria and finally Germany in the placing match. The match versus Nigeria in the league stages was to decide which of the 2 nations would progress to the ICC World Cricket League Division Six to be held in Malaysia in September 2011 and by losing that match, Botswana failed to progress and will remain in Division Seven till the next instalment of the ICC WCL. In April 2013, Botswana were given hosting rights again for the ICC World Cricket League Division 7 in their second attempt in trying to get promoted out of Division 7 after halting the relegation slide in the last edition. Beating Ghana in the first match, Botswana lost their second match in a competitive encounter against Vanuatu by 23 runs. Botswana then lost third next match heavily to eventual WCL Div 7 winners and arch rivals Nigeria. Botswana tried in vain to get back into contention for promotion but after a tied match against Germany, all hopes were dashed and the best they could hope for was a 3rd-place finish. This was achieved by beating Fiji in the last group match and then beating them again in the 3rd place playoff earning Botswana a respectable 3rd place, finishing behind Vanuatu and Nigeria who were both promoted to Division 6 of the WCL. With ICC's decision to eliminate the ICC World Cricket League Divisions 7 and 8, this meant that Botswana will now have to qualify through regional tournaments to make it into the ICC World Cricket League Division 6, which will now be the entry point for the World Cricket League.


Football

Football is the most popular sport in Botswana, with qualification for the
2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football ...
being the biggest achievement to date. The Botswana national football team, governed by the
Botswana Football Association The Botswana Football Association (BFA) is the governing body of association football in Botswana, and controls the national football team. It is an affiliate of FIFA, CAF and the COSAFA. National football leagues include the beMOBILE Premier ...
, is popularly known as The Zebras and represents the country in international football competitions. It was founded in 1970, and affiliated to FIFA in 1978 and to CAF in 1976. The
Botswana Football Association The Botswana Football Association (BFA) is the governing body of association football in Botswana, and controls the national football team. It is an affiliate of FIFA, CAF and the COSAFA. National football leagues include the beMOBILE Premier ...
organizes national football leagues and the national team which include the beMOBILE Premier League,
Botswana First Division North The Botswana First Division North (currently known as the Debswana First Division North due to sponsorship reasons) is the second-tier professional football league in Botswana. Founded in 1966 after Botswana was granted independence, it is admini ...
and
Botswana First Division South For association football in Botswana, the Botswana First Division South (currently known as the Debswana First Division South due to sponsorship reasons) is the second-tier professional football league in Botswana. Founded in 1966 after Botswana w ...
. Although Botswana have entered the
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
preliminary stages five times, it took them nearly 11 years after playing their first match to register their first victory - a 4–1 victory in the African pre-preliminary qualifying rounds for
Germany 2006 The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won ...
against
Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a population ...
The southern African nation took part in their first preliminary competition for the
1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...
in the USA, where they faced
Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesCôte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre ...
. They managed a 0–0 draw with the latter in Gaborone but lost their other three matches, finishing last in their group. The next competition they entered was for
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
, where they faced Zambia in a two-legged tie to decide which team would advance to the group stages.
Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
won both legs of the tie to qualify and knock Botswana out. After this Botswana suffered some poor results with the team losing 3–0 to Zambia and losing to second-string sides from South Africa and Zimbabwe at home in Gaborone, frustrating many supporters. A draw with a Madagascar side ranked 146th in the world at the time led Botswana FA to sack manager
Colwyn Rowe Colwyn Roger Rowe (born 22 March 1956) is an English football coach and former professional player. Career Playing career Rowe began his professional career in 1973 with Colchester United, before signing with Chelmsford City in 1975. Coaching ...
, despite his leading Botswana to their then-highest ever FIFA ranking of 95th. The BFA claimed this move was taken because they feared for his safety from angry fans. Stanley Tshosane was named as his replacement and in his first game in charge, Botswana achieved an impressive 2–1 win away to Mozambique to put them in a relatively strong position in their qualifying group. Despite also achieving a creditable draw with Côte d'Ivoire, Botswana finished bottom of their qualifying group for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. This disappointment was followed by the most successful period in Botswana's history. Botswana defied their ranking to become the first team to qualify for the
2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football ...
, beating
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
both at home and away. This success coincided with a rise to their highest ever FIFA ranking of 53rd. They did not manage to build upon this upturn in form at the tournament, losing narrowly to
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...
and
Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...
and heavily to
Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
to finish bottom of their group with zero points. The truncated qualification format for
2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...
saw them face Mali in a two-legged tie, which they lost 7-1 on aggregate. They then failed to qualify for the
2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...
, finishing third in their group with 7 points behind
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
and
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. In October 2013 the Botswana Football Association sacked Tshosane, citing his "failing to meet the targets set for him". They subsequently appointed Englishman Peter Butler in February 2014.


Motorsport

The Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race is a desert race held since 1981. It is the premier event of the South African Rally Cross Country Series.


Golf

The Botswana Golf Union offers a
amateur golf league
in which golfers compete in tournaments and championships.


Rugby

The Botswana team played their first ever international on September 7, 1996 against
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
, losing 130 to 10. Their first win came in 2001 in a match against
Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its n ...
, winning 13 points to 3. Also in 2001 they participated in African qualifying tournaments for the
2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...
in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. In 2004 Botswana won four internationals in a row, defeating Tanzania, Swaziland, Nigeria and Mali. Botswana then participated in the Africa qualifying tournaments for the
2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...
in France. They were grouped in the Southern Pool of Round 1a, along with nations Zambia and Swaziland. In their first game against
Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
in Lusaka, they lost 28 to 24. However they won their second match 19 to 12 over Swaziland in Botswana. They finished second in the pool and did not advance to the next round. Rugby union in Botswana has 6,805 registered players. However, Botswana's proximity to the major Rugby playing nation of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
, and 2 time world cup competitors
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
, has meant that Botswana has received a constant flow of touring sides, and other African nations.


Squash

The Botswana Squash Rackets Association is the national organisation for
Squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
in Botswana and its regional affiliation is Squash Federation of Africa. The Botswana Squash Rackets Association is currently being represented internationally by
Alister Walker Alister Walker (born 19 September 1982) is a professional squash player who represented England. He now represents Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlo ...
, Lekgotla Mosope, Jason Boyle and Theo Pelonomi.


Swimming

The Botswana Swimming Sport Association is the national governing body for the sport of swimming in
Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kal ...
.


Tennis

Botswana has over the last couple of years, remained ranked in the top ten in Africa in junior tennis. Presently the highest ranked player is No. 3 in Africa in the 16 & under age group. The
Botswana Tennis Association The Botswana Tennis Association (BoTA) is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in Botswana. Botswana is ranked in the top 15 nations in African tennis. The BoTA is affiliated to both International Tennis Federation and Confederat ...
has a very well structured junior development program which is aimed at developing tennis at grassroots. This program receives a lot of support from the BNSC, ITF and other stakeholders since the funds that they provide are used to carryout this program. Currently this program has been spread throughout the country to several primary schools.


See also

*
Botswana at the Olympics Botswana has competed in 11 Summer Olympics. Botswana's debut was at the 1980 Summer Olympics, in Moscow. They have yet to compete in a Winter Olympics. Botswana won its inaugural medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Nijel Amos getting a silver ...
*
Botswana National Sports Council Botswana National Sports Commission is the national governing body for all sports in Botswana. See also * Sports in Botswana * Botswana National Olympic Committee(BNOC) * Botswana Tennis Association * Botswana national football team The B ...


References

{{Sport in Africa