A medical orthotist and prosthetist by profession, Mabaka has experienced sport as an athlete, coach and administrator. She has served as a sport director of the Botswana Judo Federation, worked with its Women’s Commission and qualified as an IJF level 1 coach. Each of these roles has contributed to her growing interest in athlete development and the creation of environments in which people can develop beyond their sporting performance. Mabaka began judo at nine and competed in the under 48 kg category, reaching the IJF World Judo Tour and African Games. An injury eventually ended her competitive career but not her involvement in the sport.
“Judo never really left me,” she explained. “I grew up as what I would describe as a special child and judo became a kind of safe space for me. It gave me a sense of belonging and community.”
Her own experiences also exposed some of the challenges facing young female athletes. As a teenager coached predominantly by men, she sometimes struggled to communicate needs that were specific to her as a young woman. Gradually, many of the girls with whom she had trained disappeared from the tatami, leaving her as the only girl in her club at times. With few female role models around her, she decided that she wanted to become the example she had needed.
Questions remained with her: why do girls stay in sport and why do they leave? These questions now lie at the heart of Project STAY (Supporting the Transition of Female Athletes in Botswana Sport). The project emerged through Mabaka’s participation in WISH, which she joined after responding to a call from the Botswana National Olympic Committee. Initially she hoped to strengthen her leadership skills and develop coaching within the Botswana Judo Federation. However, exchanges with women from different sports and cultural backgrounds encouraged her to reconsider the scale of the issue. “I realised that perhaps I was focusing too much on the aspect I already knew about, coaching development within judo, and not enough on the bigger questions behind it.”
With support from the IJF and guidance provided through WISH, the initial concept developed into a structured, cross-sport research project. Mabaka produced a complete study protocol, research questions, questionnaires, qualitative tools and plans for analysis and implementation.
For her, staying in sport means far more than remaining registered as an athlete. It means being able to participate, progress, belong and imagine a future within sport. “Project STAY isn’t about telling athletes that they must stay. It’s about asking whether the sporting environment is giving them enough reasons, opportunities and support to want to stay.”
The research examines the athlete within her wider environment. It considers personal circumstances, relationships with coaches, teammates and family, organisational structures and the broader sporting system. Female athletes at different stages of development are being consulted alongside coaches and administrators through questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. Forty questionnaires have already been completed but Mabaka is careful not to draw premature conclusions. “What has already been encouraging is the willingness of athletes and stakeholders to engage with the conversation around female athlete retention.”
Her presentation at the Future Champion Summit, attended by female athletes aged 13 to 25, reinforced the importance of listening to women at different transition points. Adolescence, the move from junior to senior competition, injury, changes of coach, education, employment and family responsibilities can all affect an athlete’s journey differently.
Once the research has been completed, the findings will inform practical responses. These might include improved coach education, mentorship, stronger transition support, clearer development pathways and mechanisms for identifying athletes at risk of leaving. The objective is not to impose a predetermined solution but to allow athletes’ experiences to shape the response.
Lucky Mabaka believes judo clubs and federations have an essential role to play. Coaches can create spaces in which athletes feel respected and heard, while clubs can strengthen communication with athletes and families. Federations can invest in education, mentorship and structures that recognise changing needs throughout a woman’s sporting life. “We need to create a culture where an athlete can raise a challenge before it becomes a reason to leave.”
In the long term, Mabaka hopes Project STAY can provide a framework adaptable to other sports, federations and countries, while helping retention and wellbeing become intentional elements of sport development in Botswana. Her message to young women is equally clear: value is not determined by medals or rankings, and a place in sport does not depend on following a single pathway.
“If one young athlete feels that she has a future in sport because of something we learn or change through Project STAY, then the work will already have been worthwhile.”