/ 20 September 2016

Leadership – Game Mothibi

Game Mothibi
Game Mothibi

Gender activist
Game Mothibi is an advocate for women, going around the world to promote increased participation of women in sports and lobbying for policy change.

Mothibi has long been active in the country’s sports administration, and is currently head of the International Working Group on Women and Sports (IWG) Secretariat in Gaborone.

She started making her impact locally as secretary general of Botswana’s Table Tennis Association in 2001, where she introduced equal pay and prize money for athletes, whether they compete in the men or women’s division.

As secretary general of Women and Sports Botswana from 2004 to 2009, Mothibi assist- ed in mobilising about 20 Batswana women from different sporting codes to participate in the IWG World Conference in Kumamoto, Japan in 2006. She was also asked to represent Africa atIWG World Conference panel discus- sion in Sydney, Australia in 2010.

Mothibi was a Botswana National Olympic Committee board member from 2009 to 2010, and assisted in developing a fully- fledged secretariat. Some of her other notable achievements include leading Team Botswana as general manager at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Mothibi was also sprinter Amantle Montsho’s mentor in 2010, connecting her to local sponsors, helpingher interact with communities, and assisting her with delivering motivational speeches to schools and organisations.

Mothibi has also worked as special project officer of the Botswana National Sports Council, and managed the Sport Volunteer Movement and Active Community Clubs from 2010 to 2013.

Mothibi was part of the team that prepared Botswana’s bid to host IWG, and she was then appointed head of the secretariat to assist in advocating for inclusive sport policies. She led in its Africa Conference in October 2016, and in the preparations for the forthcoming World Conference on Women and Sport in 2018.

As part of her legacy, Mothibi has introduced mentorship, empowerment and exchange programmes for young women through the Botswana Integrated Sports Programme. She has also engaged young Batswana on an annual basis for international leadership training camps in Florida, USA and the Women and Sports Academy in Chichester, UK.

As part of her global activism, she represented IWG in the expert group for the revised 2015 UNESCO Charter on Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sports. She also recently attended a meeting in Brazil for Commonwealth sports ministers, which made far reaching recommendations on addressing the continuing inequalities in sports.

A passionate sports administrator, she lobbies globally for increased female leadership in different sporting roles such as refereeing, coaching and decision-making.

Email: [email protected]