Botswana Softball Association (BSA) technical director, Gontlafetse Batsetswe has said softball national teams should take a break from international competitions.
Batsetswe was speaking to Mmegi Online after dismal performance by senior women national team at the just ended World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Cup Group Stages in Ireland. Botswana lost all the four games they played against U.S.A, Ireland, Chinese Taipei and Great Britain. The team failed to score a single run. When asked about lessons from the championships, Batsetswe said there is no difference with previous experiences. “I think if we were to halt national teams for a good three years for strengthening and capacitation of both our internal processes and Long-Term Athletes Development programmes, we could then talk about learning and growth,” he said. “At the moment I still do not think we are up there with other nations more especially overseas (opponents),” Batsetswe added.
He said the strategic objective driven by the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC), where National Sport Associations (NSAs) are measured by international participation also contributes to the poor performance. Botswana’s play offs against Ireland and Great Britain were cancelled due to bad weather. U.S.A are the winners of Group A followed by Australia. The two countries have qualified for for the World Cup finals in Italy next year. Team Botswana will arrive back home tomorrow.
