Softball juniors prepare for World Cup
MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent
| Friday June 13, 2008 00:00
The game is part of preparations for the Junior Men's International Softball Federation (ISF) World Championships billed for Canada from June 20-30. Botswana and South Africa will be Africa's representatives in the tournament. Besides the friendly against South Africa, the Botswana juniors will play another build-up match against their senior brothers over the weekend.
The Botswana Softball Association (BSA) president Marumo Morule said that though they have not had enough, they have tried their best to give the boys training. He explained that the players do not have much exposure. However, he added that everything is in place and the team is expected to leave for Canada on Wednesday next week.
The team assistant coach Kabelo Kwape said they have talked to their players to give them confidence before the games. He added that both players and coaches do not have the experience at the highest level as Botswana will be making its first appearance at the World Cup. 'We know it is not going to be easy.
But at the same time, we do not want to scare players. We have advised them to be calm,' Kwape said. He urged the players to do their best despite the odds. He said tournaments are not just about winning. 'Even if we do not win, the games will be such an experience for us and anything more than that will be a bonus,' he said.
Kwape insisted that had they had more training, the players would have been more confident.
The team will be coached by Joseph Moroka assisted by Kwape. Other members of the squad include Donald Ferguson as head of delegation, Donald Fologang (statistician), Kopanang Thekiso (manager) and Letsweletse Jonas (BISA liaison officer).
Twelve countries will do battle in a round robin tournament in the Canada event. Besides Botswana and South Africa, other countries in the tournament are three-time champions Australia, Argentina, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the United States and Venezuela. The top four countries will advance to the playoffs on June 28th. The third and fourth-placed teams will play each other followed by a second playoff between the two top teams.
The winner of the play-off will earn a direct berth to the grand final. The loser will meet the winner of the first playoff game to determine who will move on to the grand final.