Softball, basketball and football league games had to be called off, as most pitches were unplayable.
Softball and basketball leagues were entering their third week while football - especially First Division South - was entering the second week of its second round. First Division South is tenser because teams are gunning for promotion to the Elite league while others are trying to avoid being condemned to the second division.
For softball the cancellation might lead to a backlog of fixtures, as their schedule is already tight. Of the seven games that were supposed to have been played, only one took place, between Vikings and Police ladies teams where Police emerged victors by piping Vikings by four points to three.
“The cancellations might lead to a congestion of fixtures especially since we have a shortage of fields. We have already written a letter to the University of Botswana requesting to use their grounds for some of our fixtures. We are also considering squeezing some of the cancelled games to Ascension day,” general manager of Southern region Boitshepho Mooki said.
Paper Club men’s coach Sthanda Kgosiyang, whose team is yet to lose a game, also expressed regret and said his team has been affected dearly.
“The rain is a natural phenomenon which we cannot do anything about, but truly speaking this has affected us a lot - physically, emotionally and even tactically. We were prepared for our encounter with Dinare, only for it to be cancelled due to rain. What pains me most is that last week we did not play and again this past week, so one cannot assess the progress of the team properly. Before playing another team one must make assessments from the previous game.
“This helps us go back to the drawing board and prepare for our next game. Also some of our players come from as far away as Jwaneng so they were also somehow affected because they came all the way from there only to see no action,” Kgosiyang said.
President of Botswana Basketball Association Mothusi Thipe also said the cancellation of their three games, which had been scheduled for Sunday might create a backlog of fixtures. He however said they would consider playing a number of games when the national team goes into camp as long as the concerned teams do not have more than four players in the national team.
In the football fraternity especially the First Division South, the game that many people had their eyes on was between Gaborone United (GU) and Mokgosi Young Fighters of Ramotswa, which was supposed to have been played on Sunday. GU are currently the league leaders while Mokgosi is at the bottom of the league.
GU manager Keemenao Tsie said the cancellation of the game had a negative impact on them not only because they are fighting for promotion but also because Mokgosi is their hoodoo team.
“Mokgosi disrupted our mission to bounce back to the Premier League about two years ago, and we drew with them in the first round so we had a special preparation for them. This means we have to do the same thing again when we meet next time. Anyway we have now taken our focus to the Maletamotse game next week in Lobatse,” he said
Also Naughty Boys who are fighting for promotion say they were affected because they are used to having a game every weekend. The team’s assistant coach Timmy Setswe says they play every week to keep their players in shape and the cancellation of the game against Sharps Electrical has forced them to look for a friendly midweek with one of the Premier League teams,” he said.
