The Botswana Rugby Union (BRU) is entering a transformative era, marked by a bold revision of its constitution and the unveiling of an ambitious Strategic Plan for 2025–2028. According to Elijah Kokoro, Vice President Technical at BRU, the changes are designed to enhance governance, transparency, and inclusivity in rugby across the country.
“The Botswana Rugby Union has revised its constitution to enhance governance, improve transparency, and align with modern sports administration best practices,” said Kokoro. “The key motivations include ensuring compliance with World Rugby and Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) standards while fostering inclusivity in the sport. The updated framework aims to provide better representation for key development areas, including women’s rugby, ensuring a more structured and progressive future for the game in Botswana.”
The BRU’s Strategic Plan 2025–2028 outlines a comprehensive roadmap aimed at expanding rugby participation by increasing player numbers through targeted school, university, and community programs.
“A key priority is strengthening women’s rugby by promoting gender inclusivity through dedicated competitions and development pathways,” Kokoro explained. “The plan also aims to enhance high-performance pathways by improving coaching, talent identification, and player development to boost Botswana’s competitiveness regionally and internationally. Additionally, it seeks to improve governance and administration by reinforcing leadership structures, financial transparency, and compliance with BNSC standards. Lastly, the strategy emphasizes boosting rugby awareness and engagement by expanding media presence, marketing efforts, and sponsorship opportunities to increase visibility and attract investment.”
On developing grassroots rugby, Kokoro said the Union is pursuing multiple strategies to grow the game from schools to clubs while ensuring inclusivity and long-term sustainability. “Some key development plans include; targeting schools and universities, development of women’s rugby, training and education courses, and age grade development and talent identification.”
When asked about efforts to grow women’s rugby, Kokoro said, “To develop women’s rugby in Botswana, the BRU will accelerate the attendance and participation of women in capacity-building workshops for coaches, ensuring more female leaders contribute to the sport’s growth. Additionally, elite training camps, strength and conditioning programs, and specialized coaching will be implemented to enhance player skills, fitness, and game strategy, ultimately improving performance in international matches. To further expose players to high-level competition and foster development, Botswana will actively participate in more regional tournaments, providing valuable experience and strengthening the nation’s presence in women’s rugby.”
Kokoro also elaborated on the expected impact of the strategic plan on Botswana’s participation in regional and international competitions. “With better training programs and coach education, Botswana’s national teams (men, women, and age-grade teams) will become more competitive in Rugby Africa Cup, Africa Sevens, and regional tournaments,” he said. “The introduction of T1 Rugby and structured youth development pathways will strengthen the pipeline of talented players, leading to higher skill levels and improved match results.”
“Botswana can aim for qualification to higher-tier tournaments, such as the World Rugby Challenger Series and improve its rankings in Africa Sevens and fifteens rugby competitions.”
“Investing in women’s rugby development will increase participation and competitiveness in Africa Women’s Sevens and potentially in international qualifiers for global tournaments. This will boost Botswana’s standing in continental women’s rugby rankings.”
“Strengthening school and university rugby will lead to a broader talent base, ensuring a continuous supply of skilled players to national teams. Well-structured club competitions will prepare our players for the intensity of international tournaments.”
Kokoro concluded with a message to the rugby community: “Our message to rugby players, fans and stakeholders is that we are entering a new chapter, and we are committed to: expanding rugby at all levels, competing at the highest levels, investing in training and education, growing women’s rugby, building strong partnership.”
