The Annual CECT Sports Tournament 2023

Nelson Mandela once said that sport has the power to unite. It’s that unifying spirit of teamwork, collaboration, and working hand in hand, focused and determined on one main goal, playing your best to win. But sport also has the power to unify everyone who gets involved, from the players, spectators, and referees, to vendors, it perfectly brings people together people from different backgrounds and environments. The CECT sports tournament hosted annually in Botswana aims to do just that, bringing learners from different schools together for a day of team building, making new friends from different schools, learning to preserve and play till the finish, and bringing the community together to appreciate, celebrate, and be proud of the bright talent and the future generation in their community.

The annual CECT Sports Tournament

This year we hosted the annual CECT sports tournament at Satau Primary School in Botswana. This sporting event recommenced last year after a 2-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was an exciting and action-packed day as Kachikau Primary School returned to defend its title as the soccer champions against Mabele, Kavimba, Parakarungu, and Satau Primary School.

This annual event brings together learners from the 5 schools in the CECT region to participate in a fun-filled day of sports and competition. Through this tournament, we are creating a platform to inspire the youth in Botswana through sports and fitness. Through our community empowerment and education projects in Botswana, we recognize the importance of actively nurturing the youth’s development, instilling good values, and creating safe spaces for positive recreation activities. This year we expanded the tournament and included netball as part of the tournament

We partnered with Bomaid and FNB Botswana Foundation as the headline sponsors for the event who sponsored the sports kits, water bottles, and sports equipment for the event. Each learner who participated received a new sports kit and a stationery pack for the new school term that included exercise books, crayons, rulers, a sharpener, and a pencil. This pack will ensure that no learner is left behind at school and has the necessary tools they need to fully participate in class.

The 5 schools all played against each other in a 20-minute game with the top 2 teams from the netball and soccer advancing to the final round, where a new champion would be crowned. The school battled it out, fighting hard to the end with Mabele and Satau moving to the finals for netball and the current champion Kachikau taking on Mabele in the finals for soccer.

The final match was a nail-biting showcase and all the teams left everything on the field, but there could only be one winner. Congratulations to Mabele School for winning the netball tournament and our reigning champions Kackikau for lifting the cup 2 years in a row. Each player and coach received a finisher medal which was presented to them by the local chief.

We are so grateful to Sea Pride Foods for partnering with us again this year to provide the catering for the event and ensure that our players, guests, and coaches had all the fuel and energy they needed for the tournament. The Vuche Vuche Basket Weaving group joined us again this year and prepared delicious meals for our VIPs and learners as well as making thank-you gifts for all our guests. Working with our local ABC partners and suppliers in Botswana like Sea Pride Foods and involving the community projects that we support like Vuche Vuche as part of this tournament is our way of creating opportunities for collaboration and shared participation in our goal to invest in the local communities where we operate.

The event was a great success and the atmosphere during the matches was electrifying. It was overwhelming to see the community’s support and generous donors who went above and beyond to make this event a success. We are looking forward to CECT 2024 where new champions will be crowned and more lives will be impacted!

“Victory is in having done your best. If you’ve done your best, you’ve won.” – Billy Bowerman