Wells and BDF crowned kings and queens of the ball
There was no ‘Blue Monday’ hangover for Wells International Men’s and BDF IX Ladies Softball clubs this week, as the two sides hit their way to a P20, 000 pay day each.
The pair were crowned 2023 Selebi-Phikwe Softball Extravaganza champs, both beating off competition from seven other teams to emerge victorious at the one-time mining town’s Area2 Softball grounds.
The defending champions, the Titans Ladies and BDF IX men were the runners-up, pocketing a cool P15, 000.
Now in its 14th year, the tournament, which is the brainchild of the Comets Softball Club in Selebi-Phikwe, was sponsored to the tune of P200, 000 by SPEDU.
Wells Internationale Coach, Gagoope Ntsholetsang, whose team ended a four-year drought for the Extravaganza, admitted his young troops surprised him with their excellent performance.
“They outperformed everyone. I did not expect such play from them. We came here to compete, but I never expected to become the reigning champions,” stated Ntsholetsang, whose squad is made up of youngsters who no longer participate in school sports.
“I usually groom kids from school sports, but my team has been struggling since the government banned school sports. It’s difficult to find someone who knows how to play softball on the streets; they must first go through school sports, where we identify and develop them into softball stars,” Ntsholetsang remarked.
Reflecting on a smooth weekend of softball, Extravaganza LOC Chairperson, Oeme Morupisi, told Voice Sport everything went well.
“We had no problems because we had planned ahead of time, and each team received what they were promised. If there was anything we didn’t do well, we could have heard from the revellers or the clubs that participated in the tournament,” said Morupisi.
However, he did admit to being less than impressed with the ‘below par’ performances on show.
“The performance of the teams was very disappointing, especially given that those are the teams that contribute to our national team,” Morupisi remarked, who like Ntsholetsang, bemoaned the lack of sport in school.
“Government must reconsider bringing back the BISA events,” he urged.
Still in softball news, the Botswana Women’s National Team was eliminated from the World Cup in Dublin, Ireland, knocked out in the group stage after losing four games and winning one.
