Softball Spectacular to quench players’ thirst
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday December 5, 2025 09:27
The inaugural event starts today and runs until Sunday at the National Diamond in Gaborone. There has been no softball action since July. The spectacular is the brainchild of former national team coaches, Pako Maforaga and Disang Selemogwe.
Speaking to MmegiSport, Maforaga said the tournament is a building block that they hope will become an annual year-end event featuring the best-performing teams throughout the year. “As the organisers of the tournament, we believe it is our contribution to softball development and growth. We have to assist the association where we can,” he said.
Asked why the tournament was not open to all Botswana Softball Association-affiliated clubs, Maforaga stated they want to focus on the top-performing sides. He said the intention is to motivate clubs to work harder throughout the year. Maforaga added it is their reward and once the games are established there will be incentives for exceptional players. “Sponsorship has been a challenge and due to time constraints of time from when we got approval to use the National Diamond, we turned to our friends for support,” he said.
“The biggest challenge was that clubs are not used to being active this late in the year. Also, the reason why we wanted to deal with a small number.”
Meanwhile, 2025 Phikwe Extravaganza men’s champions, Wells International club coach, Gagoope Ntsholetsang said the plan is to honour the fixture because some of the players will be missing in action due to other community and work commitments. “We were not able to assemble a complete squad that we are known for. To us, we are always mentally prepared when we get into a game.
“To tell you the truth, we always make sure that we safeguard our name, hence we always make sure that we honour the fixtures. We always put in an effort to assemble a team that will compete,” Ntsholetsang said. For his part, BDF IX men’s coach, Tebogo Makachana, said preparations for the tournament have been going well. “I have not been with the team for a month because I was engaged with the Under-23 national team, and my assistant was in charge of the training.
“But the weather was a bit challenging which affected our schedule a bit. However, everything is in place, we are ready,” he said. The Botswana Softball Association (BSA) has been struggling to secure league sponsorship ever since BoFINET dumped them.
Despite the financial challenges, BSA hosted the Return to Play in 2022, which saw clubs receive prize money at the end of the season.
Last year, the Botswana National Sport Commission pumped P937,000 into the BSA for league action involving both the southern and northern zones.
Men: BDF, Gatalamotho, Police IX, and Wells.Women: BDF, Police IX, Titans and Gheto Yankees.