150 countries in Botswana for softball congress
Calistus Kolantsho | Thursday October 12, 2017 09:41
The congress, to be held at the Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC), saw the WBSC executive committee and finance commission hold their first meetings. Each country has sent two delegates and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairperson, Jacob Sesinyi told Mmegi Sport yesterday that both baseball and softball will elect their leadership during the congress. He said other commissions such as men’s fast pitch, umpire and equipment standards, women, sport and athletes commissions will hold their meetings during the course of the congress.
“We are going to have different board meetings. As you might be aware, each continent has its own board. The congress comes at a time when softball and baseball have been accepted as Olympic sports,” he said.
The official opening of the congress is tomorrow. Sesinyi said hosting the congress means WBSC has trusted the Botswana Softball Association (BSA) with their brand. He said that is a huge responsibility and it improves the stature of the association and softball in general. He said the public and corporates are starting to take BSA in a different perspective.
“It is an indication that softball, and sport in general, has good reputation. Presidents and secretary generals of top associations such as Japan, England and United States of America are here. This is an opportunity for networking, not only for the BSA but our local clubs. We cannot expect this congress to be hosted here again in our lifetime,” Sesinyi said.
He said clubs should not just attend the congress to listen to deliberations but to benchmark.
WBSC president, Riccardo Fraccari said Africa can play a key role in ensuring that softball and baseball become major global sports, positioned as long term Olympic events. “That is why we are staging this WBSC Africa Summit. Baseball and softball have never been as popular across the globe as they are today,” he told Sports Crunch.
The congress, to be held at the Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC), saw the WBSC executive committee and finance commission hold their first meetings. Each country has sent two delegates and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairperson, Jacob Sesinyi told Mmegi Sport yesterday that both baseball and softball will elect their leadership during the congress. He said other commissions such as men’s fast pitch, umpire and equipment standards, women, sport and athletes commissions will hold their meetings during the course of the congress.
“We are going to have different board meetings. As you might be aware, each continent has its own board. The congress comes at a time when softball and baseball have been accepted as Olympic sports,” he said.
The official opening of the congress is tomorrow. Sesinyi said hosting the congress means WBSC has trusted the Botswana Softball Association (BSA) with their brand. He said that is a huge responsibility and it improves the stature of the association and softball in general. He said the public and corporates are starting to take BSA in a different perspective.
“It is an indication that softball, and sport in general, has good reputation. Presidents and secretary generals of top associations such as Japan, England and United States of America are here. This is an opportunity for networking, not only for the BSA but our local clubs. We cannot expect this congress to be hosted here again in our lifetime,” Sesinyi said.
He said clubs should not just attend the congress to listen to deliberations but to benchmark.
WBSC president, Riccardo Fraccari said Africa can play a key role in ensuring that softball and baseball become major global sports, positioned as long term Olympic events. “That is why we are staging this WBSC Africa Summit. Baseball and softball have never been as popular across the globe as they are today,” he told Sports Crunch. (Additional reporting by sportscrunch.com)