The last league action was the Return to Play in 2022. Northern zone teams were battling it out at Itekeng diamond in Orapa. The teams are playing the league using tournament format while the southern zone league is being played in round robin format. However, some players are said to have not started training mainly due to the fact that the league has no prize money. Titans coach, Dizoh Selemogwe, told SportMonitor that although they picked a 11-1 win over Dinare, it was difficult to prepare for the league. “The long dormant softball activities have killed the interest in players and even club leadership. As a result players are not yet back to the ground for training despite the commencement of the league. The announcement by the BSA that the league was starting was supposed to be a happiness triggering moment to players but it killed the spirit even more to be told that the league has no prize money. There is no sponsor. It is a volunteerism league,” he said.
Selemogwe called upon the BSA to resuscitate players’ lives with a sponsor regardless of how small it may be, adding that the era of no prize money is no more. He said the new national executive committee came into power promising change, claiming that sponsors were ready, which was not true. “They are waiting for clubs to take charge. They have been in office for more than six months now, now they are talking volunteerism league. I am actually forward to a kindergarten type of league,” Selemogwe said. Panthers men also started the season on a high note, beating UB Giants by eight runs to one. Team captain and caretaker coach, Tshepiso Mphapogang, said it was a slow start to the season and did not witness what he expected. “Some of my players did not play the best game and my opponents did not give us enough competition, they played what we know and what they think they know, so we capitalised on what they think. We simply demonstrated what we know and that is why we won the league,” he said. Mphapogang said playing without prize money is not an inconvenience for Panthers because the plan is to expose youngsters to softball. He said the club has been playing with older players, and it is now time for new talent. For his part, Giants captain, Letumile Motlogelwa, admitted that it was not a good start for his side, but they will adjust as the season continues.
He said they have new players who are still getting used to playing in high tempo competition. “We knew that we were going to play against a good side. Our game plan was to go for power play; it did not work for us. We then introduced short play and Panthers quickly adjusted to it. The moment they did that, we shifted again. Our aim this season is to finish in the top eight,” he said.
Results: Northern zone: Women: Carats 13-5 Diphofu, Diphofu 21- 3 Raptures and Carats 17- 2 Raptures. Men: Carats 9- 1 Diphofu, Carats 14-1 Raptures, Rebels 14-0 Raptures, Rebels 12 – 0 Diphofu, Diphofu 12-11 Raptures and Carats 1-10 Rebels. Southern zone: Women: UB 8- 5 Panthers and Police 4-0 Vikings. Men: Dinare 10-8 Warriors, Police 9-3 Vikings
