The continental qualification games are to be played in Mokopane, Limpopo Province from February 26 until March 3. Speaking to SportMonitor during the team's training session held at the National Diamond over the weekend, Moyo said the target is to win a gold medal at the qualifications because they have been playing second best to South Africa.
He also said the last time Botswana won a gold medal against South Africa was during the Zone Six competition way back in 2003. Moyo said he was excited when he was given a role to lead the national team by the Botswana Softball Association (BSA) especially after playing for the national team for a long time and also being involved in the training of both the men and women's teams. The technical team invited 30 players for the trials, 29 turned up to battle it out for the 22 spots up for grabs. “My first assignment was to find young competitive players and combine them with experienced ones to create a pool where I can pick the final team that stands a chance to give me the results that I want. The majority of the players stay in Gaborone. We started evening training sessions on Monday and we sent out a training plan to players who are staying in other areas.
I invited five players from the north for training but only four turned up and the other one did not show up due to personal reasons,” Moyo said. He said although it was the first session, the reaction was positive and there were only a few adjustments that were to be done.
Moyo said as the qualification date gets closer, the most important thing is to give the players more game time. He explained that selection was based on game application, understanding of the game and who could handle pressure. He said they have proposed a final training camp ahead of travelling.
He said the intention is to slot a friendly game against an All Stars team. Moyo said the intention is to keep together the same players for a few more years so that they can mature in the next few years. The upcoming WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup would be the first in history to be played under the new two stage format where the group stage and finals would be held in consecutive years. Prince Albert, Canada, would host one of the groups from July 10-14, while the Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, USA would receive a second group from September 17-21. The finals are set to take at Prince Albert between July 8-13 2025. Ten nations have already qualified for the XVIII WBSC Softball World Cup group stage.
