Gen Z takes over Botswana Sport

On 28 July 2022, the 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games officially opened in Birmingham, England, with more than 5,000 athletes from 72 countries competing across 280 events. Botswana has sent a team of 35 athletes to represent the country, with the highest age of an athlete on the team being 47, from Bowling, and the lowest being Neo Phatsima at 16. The Games will run until 08 August 2022. This year’s games came with notable records for Botswana, through Neo Phatsima, a Squash athlete, who was born on 15 March 2006. Phatsima was amongst the multitudes that witnessed the opening ceremony in Birmingham, registering herself in the history books as the youngest athlete to represent Botswana at the games, and one of the first squash female athletes to compete at the level of the Commonwealth Games, since Botswana’s first participation in 1974. The 16 year old is representing the country in the women’s doubles and women’s singles of Squash, together with 17 year old Leungo Katse. Phatsima started playing squash at the age of 10 at Camp Primary School in Gaborone and in 2016 she joined the Botswana Squash Rackets Association athlete development program, which later led to her qualification for the games. Other young participants at the games include 14 year old Anahat Singh, who is the youngest participant of the Indian contingent, also playing squash, and 14 year old diver, Charli Petrov of Australia. In another historic event, the Botswana Chess Federation Senior Women National Team is competing at the 44th Chess Olympiad, in Chennai, India, with the youngest team to ever compete at the level of the Olympiad.

The team, which has an average age of 16, comprises of 15 year old Woman Fide Master Naledi Marape, 15 year old Woman Candidate Master Natalie Banda, 15 year old Woman Candidate Master Arona Moshoboro, 18 year old Ruth Otisitswe and 20 year old Woman Fide Master Besa Masaiti. The players earned themselves slots into the senior national team after different stages of qualifiers. At the 2022 World Athletics Championships which were held in Oregon, United States, from 15- 24 July 2022, the gifted 19 year old Letsile Tebogo also recorded historic moments for the country, not only by breaking records, but also by becoming the youngest athlete to represent the country at the senior level of the athletics championship. Letsile and Collen Kebinatshipi ( 18), were also the youngest athletes from Botswana at the 22nd African Athletics Championships, which were held in Saint Pierre, Mauritius from 8 - 12 June 2022. These history makers fall within Generation Z, which is also called Gen Z, described as the generational cohort following millennials, born between the late 1990s and early 2010s. Gen Z will have enormous impact on the future of sport. Different organizations have put in place strategies like the Botswana Gender and Sport Strategy, the Botswana National Olympic Committee Strategy, the Botswana National Sport Commission vision 2028 and association level strategies in terms of long- term athlete development, which have embedded Gen Z. The most important and the biggest task is to ensure sustainable and continuous investment in this cohort and the cohorts to come. Email: neokaters2010@ gmail. com