17 Apr 2019

The annual Jwaneng Easter softball tournament starts today (April 18) with a total of 12 men and 11 women teams expected to take part.

In an interview, Local Organising Committee chairperson, Joel Ramolemane indicated that they were also expecting three teams from South Africa and one from Zimbabwe to boost the tournament.

The tournament,  dubbed  Jwaneng Komatsu Easter Tournament, has been running annually since 2000 and Ramolemane said initially, they had two separate tournaments on Independence Day and Easter holidays, but said they were forced to combine them after realising that the independence period was too short, unlike Easter where they were guaranteed four days.

He said that this year, the winner would walk away with P35 000 with second position attracting P28 000 while position three attracts P25 000. He also said that the bottom placed team was guaranteed P6 000.

“Our prizes are the same across all genders. We do not encourage gender inequality where women are rewarded less than their male counterparts even when playing in the same tournament,” he said.

Ramolemane said the tournament was the brainchild of the two Jwaneng-based softball teams being Gatalamotho and Wells addinG that it was their hope that the trophies for both men and women would remain in the country.

The current champions for the tournament were BDF IX men and Police IX women.

He said its objective was to keep the youth busy and help keep them away from delinquency and that as the tournament was now a culture of Jwaneng, they expected residents and enthusiasts from outside town to throng the tournament in large numbers.

The tournament starts at Debswana Club at 6pm and is expected to run until April 21. ENDS