The man driving the women's Olympic dream

Calistus Kolantsho | Friday May 17, 2019 11:17

 

After Fibion got the job as the women’s softball team coach, he embarked on some soul searching. His task was to take the women’s softball team to a maiden appearance at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

He wondered if he had made the right choice.

“It starts with the selection, which is not an easy task. To assemble a team presents different scenarios because everybody has a team that they want but as a coach you should assemble a team that would bring results,” explains Fibion.

Fibion initially started with 25players, but had to trim the squad to 15 for the 2020 Olympic Games qualifiers.

He says the challenge was that they were not going to have a training camp. He then decided to use the league and other tournaments to select his side.

“As usual there were some complaints that I left some players behind. But I could not take the all players,” says Fibion, who has a level three coaching course.

“The players were responding well and they were proving that if they could get a chance to train together, they can go and represent us well at the second stage of Tokyo 2020.”

He says as a coach, he has not been exposed much to the outside world.

“It means I should now go and research about our possible opponents. It is an advantage to us because we are a closed book to them,” Fibion says, after his charges qualified for the next round of the Olympic qualifiers, following a tournament held in South Africa last week.

Fibion says there is not much time before the next stage, in July. He says the mistake that some people make, is to think that there is sufficient time before the July qualifiers.

“This is about team coordination and having players from different clubs, they need time to gel and be able to compliment each other. I want us to start as early as yesterday. I have submitted my training plan to my superiors,” he reveals.

Fibion says he would like his charges to play overseas and see the type of softball that is played there. He reveals that they are likely to play South Africa, but it would not give them a clear indication of what to expect.

Meanwhile, Fibion said coaching came as a calling while he was still a student at Montsamaisa Junior Secondary School in Francistown.

“I started playing softball in 1992 and I made it to the school team while doing Form One, but the majority of the players were Form Two students. When they completed their junior certificate, I took over and led the team because we did not have a coach,” he says.

Fibion explains that when he moved to Francistown Senior Secondary School (FSSS), he continued excelling in softball. From FSSS, he was recruited by Storm Softball Club and then moved to Sparrows after a short stint before ending up at Scramblers.

“At Scramblers there were coaching opportunities. After men finished training, they dispatched and it was women’s turn to train. I then decided to remain behind to assist. That is when I gained a lot of interest in coaching. I was torn between coaching and playing and my interest was much into playing,” he says.

In 2000, Fibion left for Wits Technikon where he continued hitting the ball, playing all infield positions except pitching.

The 40-year-old said upon arrival at Wits, he made it in to the Central Gauteng Province team. He twice won a silver medal with his team, while playing against Western Province.

“That is when I was selected for the national team in 2002. In 2003, New Zealand came here as part of preparations for the World Championships that they were hosting. We played against them and we left for the championship in 2004,” he says.

Botswana Police recruited him in 2005, where he played for Police IX and continued assisting the women’s team. Fibion said Police IX made it to many finals, but always fell short. He was by then an assistant coach, before he was elevated to the head coach’s position in 2008.

“Police was even nicknamed bridesmaids (baetsana). During that time we were building a strong team that was coming with a different character,” he recalls. Fibion says consequently Police broke the losing streak and never looked back.

“Coaching women is a challenge and you should be able to stand your ground. Women need attention and when you do not give it to them, you are in trouble. You should be there for them all the time and they would give you results,” Fibion says.