11 Jul 2016

The Selebi Phikwe softball extravaganza tournament has been slated for July 15 to 17.

Speaking during the press briefing, the coordinator of Softball Extravaganza Local Organising Committee (LOC) and BCL managing director, Daniel Mahupela said he was proud and happy that there is no tournament in the country that matches the Selebi Phikwe softball tournament stature.

He noted that Selebi Phikwe has always been a sporting community as it is also known for the national marathon scheduled for end of July which he said is a special month as two main activities will be taking place.

He also said the tournament is part of the sport tourism in the region as it contributes to the diversification of the mining town’s ailing economy. He said the whole tournament is sponsored at the tune of P600 000 by BCL Mine, Puma Energy , Bridgestone, Letshego, Botsogo Health Plan, Bamangwato Toyota and Kukama to name a few. He said out of the total amount P470 000 will be used for prize money for the participating teams.

Mahupela added that as the local organising committee, their target is to inject P2 million into the Selebi Phikwe business community through the tournament as visitors to the mining town will be lodging in hotels, lodges and guest houses and purchasing food and other items from local business both small and big establishments. He said he hoped that during the tournament and the business community in the town and surrounding areas will make profit.

Mahupela said they wanted to involve as many youth as possible in sport. He said the move would encourage and inspire youth to lead healthy lifestyles and deviate from engaging in unpleasant behaviour.

He said even though they are faced with a challenge of some sponsors withdrawing from the tournament, they are happy that some sponsors showed their commitment like Puma Energy, Bridgestone, Letshego, Botsogo Health Plan, Bamangwato Toyota and Kukama to name a few, while some companies pulled away due to challenges surrounding BCL Mine.

Another member of LOC, Oeme Morupisi said only 16 teams will participate in the tournament which comprise of eight ladies and eight men’s teams. ENDS