Create regional pathway for young talent
NTHAKO MAJORO
MASERU – The Lesotho Badminton Association (LESBAD) and the Botswana Badminton Association (BBA) have signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that promises to transform the competitive landscape for young Basotho shuttlers, creating a structured regional pathway that could reshape the sport’s future in the country.
The agreement, formalised during last month’s Rovers Open Tournament in Roma, establishes an annual regional tournament rotating between the two neighbouring countries, providing athletes, coaches and technical officials with regular competitive and professional experience without the financial burden that has long hampered international participation for Lesotho’s developing players.
For a nation where badminton has teetered on the brink of extinction more than once, the partnership represents far more than a sporting arrangement. It is, according to those who have laboured to keep the sport alive, a lifeline.
Badminton first took root in Lesotho in the late 1990s, introduced under the auspices of the then Lesotho Sport Council, now the Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission (LSRC). The Lesotho Badminton Association was formally established in 1999 as part of the Commission’s development programme, and the national team was born. Yet the journey since has been anything but smooth.
By the early 2010s, the association had collapsed entirely. Badminton became inactive, tournaments ceased, development programmes ground to a halt, and the sport was removed from the LSRC’s list of recognised member associations. For nearly a decade, badminton in Lesotho existed only in memory and in the occasional recreational rally at community centres.
The revival began in earnest in 2020, when the association was relaunched after years of dormancy. Under the leadership of president, Mahlape Khetsi, and a committed executive, LESBAD began the painstaking work of rebuilding from the ground up.
The association regained its registration with the LSRC, reaffirmed its affiliation with the Badminton World Federation (BWF), and set about rekindling interest in a sport that many had written off.
Central to this rebirth has been the BWF’s Shuttle Time programme, a global initiative designed to introduce badminton to schoolchildren and communities. Through Shuttle Time, LESBAD trained seven national trainers and over 140 teachers across the country, equipping them with the skills to deliver badminton basics in schools where physical education is often an afterthought.
Mohlala Mopeli, LESBAD’s secretary general and Shuttle Time coordinator, has been instrumental in this grassroots push.
“I first heard about badminton around 2016,” he recalls. “I was called to a meeting by one of my mentors and introduced to the president of Badminton Lesotho, who told me she needs assistance in reviving a sport called badminton.”
Mopeli, who grew up in Maseru and had played everything from lawn tennis to cricket, threw himself into the task. “I started by learning about the sport and its history and got a chance to learn the basics in 2017 when I was appointed to be the Shuttle Time Coordinator. Since then I have been playing recreational badminton.”
Yet the obstacles remain formidable. Lerato Lepheane, a Shuttle Time tutor and one of Lesotho’s most dedicated badminton advocates, speaks candidly about the challenges.
“There are a lot of obstacles — for example, culturally Lesotho as much as Africa is not a sport-loving continent. In Lesotho we still regard sport as largely recreational,” she says.
“We do not have any university offering Physical Education. This is a huge gap and brings about a lot of difficulties to convince individuals, schools and sponsors. Moreover, badminton is an indoor sport so facilities are not up to standard.”
The national team’s competitive record reflects these constraints. Lesotho made its debut at the African Badminton Championships in 2023 with just four players, exiting in the group stages. The nation’s highest BWF ranking stands at 87th achieved in July 2023, and the team is currently unranked.
Against this backdrop, the agreement with Botswana acquires added significance. At its heart lies the annual regional tournament, which will focus primarily on junior badminton, offering a structured progression for young players from grassroots competition to regional, continental and eventually international events.
LESBAD president Khetsi described the partnership as a watershed moment.
“The greatest benefit is that the MoU creates a sustainable and affordable regional competition pathway for Basotho athletes,” she said. “Lesotho will have a guaranteed annual regional event through which players, coaches and officials can gain experience and progressively prepare for international competitions and sport-related opportunities.”
For Khetsi, the agreement transcends the merely competitive. She envisions it as a comprehensive development framework encompassing coaching exchanges, technical clinics, workshops, match-analysis sessions and sports-science education. Technical officials – referees, umpires, line judges and tournament administrators – will also benefit, gaining practical regional experience and undergoing assessment that could elevate officiating standards at home.
The institutional dimension is equally important. Khetsi noted that tournament reports, financial reports and lessons learned from hosting the annual competition could help LESBAD build institutional memory and improve its event management and governance practices over time.
BBA president, Modisaotsile Badubi, emphasised that the partnership was deliberately designed to ensure development opportunities reach young players from all backgrounds. He highlighted the importance of nurturing boys and girls from an early age, with the programme including Under-19 competition.
Badubi said the two associations recognised that development needed to be inclusive, with particular attention to girls, players from developing clubs, rural and underserved communities, emerging junior athletes and those with limited access to regular competition.
“We want badminton to be a sport where talent rather than geography or economic circumstances determine how far a young person can go,” Badubi said.
“Our countries are neighbours. Our badminton communities are neighbours, and today we are making that relationship even stronger through sport.”
The agreement also places emphasis on safeguarding young athletes, with provisions for safe sporting environments, appropriate supervision, child protection and mechanisms for reporting concerns. For both associations, development is not simply about producing better players – it is about creating an environment where young athletes can participate safely and access meaningful opportunities regardless of their origins.
The inaugural edition of the tournament was hosted in Lesotho, with Botswana scheduled to host the 2027 edition. Badubi expressed the long-term ambition to build the competition into an established fixture on the regional badminton calendar.
“Our vision is to build an institution,” he said. “Year after year we want this tournament to become a big fixture on the regional badminton calendar.”
He envisaged a competition that players would anticipate, coaches would prepare for, officials would gain experience from and sponsors would see value in supporting. The ambition, he added, was for the tournament eventually to grow beyond Botswana and Lesotho.
Khetsi echoed this expansive vision.
“We envisage more Southern African countries joining this initiative in the future, creating a stronger regional badminton community,” she said.
The MoU also opens the door to joint training camps, exchange visits and other collaborative programmes, subject to resource availability.
The partnership comes at a time of renewed investment in Lesotho’s badminton infrastructure. In July 2025, LESBAD partnered with the Danish Badminton Federation to launch an international coaching and development programme under the DGI framework, supported by the Badminton Confederation of Africa.
Two Danish facilitators worked alongside local coaches and athletes to strengthen skills in coaching, leadership and programme planning.
“This is more than just a coaching clinic – it’s about building sustainable systems and nurturing local leadership within sport,” said Lepheane, LESBAD’s technical director.
That same month, the Lesotho National Olympic Committee launched a technical course for badminton officials, training 25 participants from clubs across the country in officiating standards, with funding from Olympic Solidarity. The course, facilitated by Ahmed Reda of Badminton Africa, aimed to close the gap in technical support that has long limited Lesotho’s ability to host international fixtures and compete effectively abroad.
For Lesotho badminton, the significance of the agreement may ultimately be measured not by the signing ceremony itself, but by what follows. How many young players gain regular competition? How many coaches and officials acquire new skills? And whether the annual tournament develops into the regional pathway envisaged by its architects?
The challenges remain daunting – limited facilities, a lack of tertiary physical education programmes, cultural attitudes that prioritise recreation over competitive sport, and the ever-present constraints of funding. Yet for a sport that was once wiped from the national consciousness, the partnership with Botswana represents a remarkable turnaround.
As Khetsi put it at the signing ceremony: “Today represents the beginning of an exciting new chapter. Through this agreement, both parties commit to working together to develop badminton in their respective countries from the grassroots level upwards.”
For the young shuttlers of Lesotho, that commitment cannot come soon enough.