Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, and South Africa are the remaining competing nations after the late withdrawals of Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The four-day qualifiers end next week Friday and will determine the two teams that progress to the second stage of the qualifiers to be held in Europe.
Botswana senior women's team has previously qualified for the World Championships. However, they did not make it beyond the group stages. The cancellation has dimmed the excitement around the qualifiers.
The Botswana Softball Association (BSA) public relations officer, Pako Maforaga said countries withdrew due to costs. Despite the cancellations, the qualifiers are a milestone for BSA who worked hard to secure the rights to host, getting the nod ahead of Uganda.
The association had to pull all the stops to host because for some time the national teams have been crossing the border to South Africa to play qualifiers. The BSA president, Katlholo Mosimanegape said the idea of hosting the Africa qualifiers came after the realisation that for 10 years, Botswana has been participating in games hosted by South Africa. He said they were also motivated by the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) strategy and government on hosting events to grow the economy through sport tourism.
“I am excited about this tournament just like my fellow national executive committee, that we have finally made it for the very first time, hosting an event of this nature as softball. It is also adding up to what softball did in 2017 when they hosted the World Baseball Softball Conference elective congress comprising over 200 countries,” he said.
Mosimanegape, who is also a WBSC Africa member at large, said as the tournament starts, they will need support from all stakeholders, other National Sport Associations, softball players and those who have never had exposure to the game. “The preparations have not been smooth, nonetheless we are optimistic and we appreciate whatever little support we have been getting from stakeholders. Remember, we had to do this over a short period of time,” he said. Mosimanegape said the majority of the games would be played at the National Diamond. Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairperson, Tirelo Mukokomani said preparations are ongoing with the little they have.
“Our role is not to raise funds but to organise and in organizing, the LOC will endeavour to augment whatever is in the kitty. We are wasting much-needed money on buying things like water when BSA has a borehole paid for with funding from the Japanese embassy, but somehow is being controlled by BNSC and oftentimes they close the pipes for the BSA. Imagine the audacity,” he lashed out. Mukokomani said over five years, the BSA has saved BNSC close to P5 million in water bills but that is the 'thank you' that softball gets.
“We will pull the games off with the tightest budget. The BSA is ready. Accommodation is the responsibility of each country; we only provide transport,” he added. Six local umpires and four from South Africa will officiate. Local chief umpire Alex Mataboge and Vincent Maoeng, umpire in chief at Softball South Africa, will manage the matches.
