The University of Botswana sports awards continue to grow in leaps and bounds. From a mere eight, the awards have more than doubled to 19 categories in just 10 years.
“This growth indicates the university’s continuous commitment towards promotion and development of sport and recreation amongst students,” said Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Mrs Motsei Rapelana at the 2019/2020 University of Botswana Sports Awards last week.
The awards are an annual event of the Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation to honour and recognise the achievements of sports and recreation student athletes. And despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the department still found a novel way to continue the ritual. To that end, Mrs Rapelana observed that sport and recreation was in line with the university’s commitment towards creating a balanced life for students on campus.
She noted that in addition to creating a holistic learning environment, the University of Botswana continued to establish and develop a range of social, cultural and recreational opportunities that facilitated the full realisation of a student’s potential for academic and personal growth.
“As an institution, we empower our students to become global citizens both in their academic as well as in their out of classroom life through sporting and recreation activities,” she added. Thus, UB continued to invest in world-class facilities such as the Olympic size swimming pool, stadium with track and field, outdoor courts, gymnasium as well as the Campus Indoor Sports Centre.
That has also placed the University of Botswana in good stead as a major role to player in determining the strategic sports development roadmap of the country as well as championing the national sport development agenda, noted Mrs Rapelana. In addition, she said the University personnel continued to lead national teams to international competitions and meets.
Meanwhile, the star of the day was Clifton Meshack who was crowned this year’s University of Botswana Sports Star of the Year. Meshack won the award for his sterling performance at the Botswana Tertiary Students Sports Association (BOTESSA) Championships where he was voted Male Best Athlete of the Year in athletics. He is also BOTESSA National Championships 400m Men gold medalist and 4x400m Men relay gold medalist.
Meshack further qualified for the International University Sports Federation World University Games (FISU 2019) where he went on to become 400m Men semi finalist and 4x400m Men finalist. Further in 2019, Meshack became Botswana Athletics Association National Championships 400m Men finalist.