The NEST pay day awaits softball sides
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday April 3, 2026 11:30
The men and women's champions will bank P45, 000 in a tournament that kicked off yesterday with the final set for Sunday. Tournament organiser, Petrus Sebina, told Mmegi Sport that the idea is to support a sport that is faced with challenges, particularly following the cancellation of school sport in government schools.
He noted that the Botswana Softball Association (BSA) league has been running without a sponsor for a long time.
“I know what sport did for me, that is why I had to come up with this idea. We approached BSA to say that we wanted to pitch something that can revive softball,” Sebina explained.
“I wanted an event that can give us competitive advantage in the region and bring international talent here. It is tough because the tournament comes at a time when the economy is struggling. We had good Samaritans who came onboard to support us.”
Sebina said they have installed solar panels with support from I-Carbon which will improve lighting for night games. He added that there has been an additional seating capacity of 1, 400 after more stands were erected.
According to Sebina, the mood is high as players have been training hard and the best softball display is expected. He added that the Most Valuable Player (MVP) will receive cash prize of P5, 000, a first for softball.
“We will be running live statistics, as soon as scorers finish, because softball is a game of numbers, they will update, so that at the end of the day, you can see who was the best batter or fielding player. “We are going to select The NEST select team, North and South, it will be based on statistics,” Sebina said.
Meanwhile, Mmegi Sport spoke to some of teams to get their views on the tournament.
Nametsegang Passman (Police women captain): 'We are ready. After playing the qualifiers, we went back to the field to sharpen our bat, that we failed on Sunday when we played a league match against Titans. We were not as sharp with bat as we are known. We were dealing with the psychological aspect because we have realised that it has more to do with the mindset than the ball we play. Obviously, there is pressure when you are used to winning or playing the finals. For the longest time we were used to be the hunter not the hunted.'
Ntsholetsang Gagoope (Wells coach): 'Qualifiers were the preparations for this big stage and they gave us a chance to study our opposition. Gata was our toughest opponent, a game that was played at night under poor lighting and they contained us and won. We corrected our mistakes. Our men’s team is strong wielding. Our pitching and catching departments are on point and out batting will be determined by the situation. Rebels are our biggest threat in our group, they have won against us before when we least expected. Rail Giants is also a threat because they come from the North. I have signed six new players. The women’s side has not won anything in a long time. I have been pushing them to improve.'
Trevor Musa (Ghetto Yankees coach): 'Preparations have been going well, whatever we are planning we hope it will be executed on the field. We are ready, we are not intimidated.'
Gabobofane 'GG' Gabobofane (Gatalamotho team manager): 'We won all the qualifying games, we are ready to hit the ball. Our first match was against BDF last night. Some players were training in Jwaneng and the rest of the squad was training in Gaborone. I have signed Thabiso ‘Stagga’ Radithobane, Lee Busang and Victor Moatlanegi to reinforce the squad.'
Women Group A: Carats, BDF, Wells, Scramblers Group B: Gheto Yankees, Police, Vikings, Titans
Men Group X: Gata, Comets, BDF, Carats Group Y: Giants, Police, Rebels, Wells