…with nation-wide athlete scouting programme
Leemisa Thuseho
THE Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC) will embark on a nation-wide athlete scouting programme ahead of the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Games scheduled for 4–13 December 2026 in Maputo, Mozambique.
The scouting programme will be conducted through a series of multi-sport events across the country, with each of the Kingdom’s ten districts taking turns to host it.
The first event will be held on 14 February in Butha-Buthe, while the next host district is yet to be determined.
Set to take place at Sophia High School, Butha-Buthe Community Hall, Crocodile Inn and Pitso Ground, the games will feature boxing, basketball, tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, netball, football and athletics, among other sporting codes.
Head of Team Lesotho for the Maputo AUSC Games, Refiloe Maphallela, said the scouting programme is aimed at building a comprehensive database of athletes from various sporting disciplines.
He said the database would enable selectors to identify and choose the best athletes to represent Lesotho at the upcoming games.
“From our experience in the past year, doing things at the last minute has been our major challenge. This time, we want to start early so that we can build strong teams for the AUSC Games,” Maphallela said during a media briefing this week.
“We are going to have a series of multi-sport events in all districts as part of the scouting programme. The district-level events will be followed by the National Youth Championships around October, where final teams for Maputo will be selected.”
Maphallella added that the programme also forms part of preparations for the 2027 African Games in Egypt and the 2028 AUSC Region 5 Games in South Africa.
Meanwhile, ’Malineo Makhang, the Team Lesotho general manager for the AUSC Games, said the government of Lesotho has already availed M300 000 of the M700 000 total budget earmarked for team preparations.
AUSC Region 5 has since unveiled the 13 sporting codes for the Maputo Games.
Athletes from member countries will compete in athletics (including wheelchair racing and events for the visually impaired), Special Olympics (for athletes with intellectual disabilities), basketball (including the 3×3 format), boxing, football, judo (including refugee athletes), karate, netball, swimming (including para-swimming), table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and volleyball (including beach volleyball).
LSRC hopes to participate in all the sporting codes, provided sufficient funding is secured.
The Region 5 Youth Games serve as a cornerstone for sports development in Southern Africa, featuring athletes under the age of 20 from the 10 member countries: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The event provides a critical platform for identifying and nurturing future stars, while fostering regional integration, friendship and cultural exchange.
