Softball leagues kick-off

MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent | Thursday August 13, 2009 00:00

A competitive men's league is expected after the injection of a P120,000 sponsorship from Estates Construction. But the women's league will go ahead without a sponsor, with the Botswana Softball Association (BSA) still searching for a financer. The BSA hopes to get a sponsor for the women's league before the end of the year.

BSA general manager in the south, Montwedi Simon said women and men's leagues will be played on different weekends unlike before. He said this will give teams time to rest on free weekends. Simon added that having both women and men games in one weekend has created problems before because some clubs share facilities. This led to delays as clubs had to wait for those they share facilities with to finish their games. Meanwhile, Simon believes the Estates Construction sponsorship will push the teams to perform better and motivate players. He said they have experienced problems in the past when some teams dropped out of the league because there was no motivation.

BSA marketing and publicity secretary, Kabelo Kwape said preparations for the league are underway with modifications being made to the pitch at the National Diamond. The score-board which still bears the name of the old sponsor will be re-branded. The Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) has set aside P250,000 to give the pitch a facelift. Kwape said some of the renovations will be done at a later stage. The BSA hopes to extend its clubhouse as well as the ablution block. Kwape appealed to clubs to be professional in their approach to the game. He said the BSA wants to give the new sponsor mileage to attract other financers.