Makacana leaves Police after six years following a period of dominance, where the cops won the league and other competitions such as the Phikwe Softball Extravaganza. He confirmed his move to BDF to MmegiSport this week. “It has been a journey, a long journey to success. And as you know, the road to success is never an easy one. There were a lot of challenges along the way that I had to overcome. So I had to sacrifice a lot to make sure the team got to where I wanted it to be. Overall, I had fun, to be honest, I enjoyed the ride,” he said.
Makacana leaves behind a team that has some of the hard hitters in local softball and he said he will create the same pattern at BDF IX. “The BDF management is supportive and I believe they will give me everything that I need to reach our goals,” he added. Many see the move as motivated by Makacana's personal interest and philosophy. Makacana finds a well-oiled machine at BDF with abundance of talent in, amongst others, Oreeditse Bareng (pitcher), Mathews Dibeela (second base), Kagiso Mogale (pitcher), Albert Kganetsano (outfield), Jasphet Seakane (utility player), Unaswi Gudu (catcher) and Terror Monkemedi (utility player). He is likely to take some players from Police, especially those who are not in the employ of the Botswana Police Service. “The general outlook at Police is that some players who are officers are disgruntled by his move. The coach faced some challenges, generally the management of Police. That club has funds but when it came to using those funds for the benefit of the players, it was something else. Also, promises of integration of players who qualify to be officers are not taken seriously. If you look at Police Volleyball Club, the majority are officers and they have job security. The same cannot be said about softball. That was what the coach was advocating for,” a source said. The official further said players such as Eric Simwanza, Kunyalala Samuel and others in the women’s team were not given job opportunities.
Contacted for comment, Police's chairperson, Diketso Gaborone, said he was not aware of the move. “I will hear the whole story tomorrow (Thursday). He has not bid me farewell,” Gaborone said. Meanwhile, softball clubs are gearing up for the Phikwe Extravaganza eliminations. The matches come at an exciting time when the transfer window is open. One of the clubs that is expected to cause an upset this season is UB Giants after both their men's and women's teams qualified last year. It was the first time for the men’s side to qualify after a long time. The men’s side finished in position six while the women’s team was fourth, narrowly missing out on bronze after losing 5-6 to Titans. Giants coach, Tebogo Johannes, told MmegiSport that his charges are ready for the eliminators and all they want is to face Police, BDF, Gata, and Wells. “We still have the same players from last season. We took out a few and we now have an understanding. I have a well-oiled machine; their game sense and coherence are top-notch. I like making my players not recruiting ready-made players,” he said.
Orapa-based Carats are also ready to roll in the northern zone eliminations to be held in Francistown, according to their spokesperson, Phologo Lebopo. “The team is currently training under the guidance of Rebaone Pilane. We will be having a weekend camp to finalise preparations for the eliminations. We expect to finalise two recruitments, one being a pitcher for the men’s team. Our aim is to qualify for the Extravaganza and finish in the top three. Last yea,r our men’s team finished in position six,” Lebopo said.
