07 Aug 2021

Botswana Softball Association (BSA) has suspended plans to start the league until the COVID-19 situation becomes better.

In an interview, BSA president, Katlholo Mosimanegape said the association had successfully engaged the Botswana National Sports Commission and presented their safe return to sports manual.

He said the manual was accepted and the association had hoped the national elite league would start around October 2021.

However, Mosimanegape said the surge of the Delta COVID-19 strain cases significantly affected their plans.

“The rising number of cases across the country has forced us to relook at our plans,” he said.

In a correspondence to BSA affiliates, Mosimanegape explained that the national executive committee was working tirelessly to find a way of safely returning to play.

The BSA president said they were currently working on modifying their playing structure to meet the current demands, training technical officials and coaches as well as SHE personnel.

He urged affiliates to abide by COVID- 19 protocols and encouraged those eligible for vaccination to take the vaccine.

For her part, BSA public relations officer, Boingotlo Marope indicated that they had planned to host test matches in the north and south regions.

The idea behind the test matches, she said was to see how everything would run especially in terms of complying with COVID-19 protocols. She said test matches would help to identify gaps in their return to play strategy and rectify before resumption of games.

Marope said players would have the feel and understanding of what was expected of them, adding that the association would then get feedback from participants including coaches, officials as well as players. “The feedback would help us in fine tuning our preparations. The idea is for everyone to be safe at our playing fields,” she said. Ends