09 Nov 2021

Botswana Games North West District team’s general manager, Tebogo Mogaetsho, has appreciated the appointment of Basiame Molatlhiwa to the national setup.

Botswana Softball Association recently appointed Molatlhiwa an assistant coach for both Under 23 and senior men national teams, which are expected to play in the World Championships qualifiers.

Mogaetsho stated in an interview that the appointment was a great achievement for the district. He added that several of their coaches were included in the national setup; citing the likes of Meleko Ndolo, who accompanied the team that took centre stage at the recent Tokyo 2020

Olympics Games and the World Under 20 Championship in Kenya.

“This is an indication that our district has a wealth of talent, which needs to be nurtured and I applaud our coaches for doing an excellent job. I am hopeful that the district would continue to produce more coaches,” he said.

Meanwhile, Molatlhiwa, a teacher by profession and also a head coach for Botswana Games softball teams in the North West region, is not new to the national setup as he has led national teams to major competitions.

His coaching journey dates back to the year 2000 and major softball competitions he attended included the Ontario Junior Women World Champions in 2013 and American Junior Men World Champions in 2016.

He once worked with the national Under 19 team and junior women in 2011, among others.

Molatlhiwa said in an interview that he was optimistic that he would deliver as expected since he had experience in coaching.

Molatlhiwa noted that his appointment was exciting, but also challenging as both Under 23 and senior men teams had not been playing for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

His work, he said, would be challenging because there was only one slot for qualifying teams in Africa, which meant he would be forced to go an extra mile to assemble strong squads that would compete in the World Championships.

“This is a new competition and we need to up our game in terms of preparations and giving our players the best support in all technical departments. I promise to do my best,” he added.

Molatlhiwa thanked Botswana Softball Association for recognising his efforts, adding that soon, he would relocate to Gaborone to start camps where they would be able to conduct some trials to select the best teams.

Hybrid systems, he said, meant that they would have to inject new blood into the teams for easy transition to the senior team.

Molatlhiwa has acquired certificates for International Softball Federation level 1 and 2 and level 1 in IAAF in Beijing, China in 2017 and he also holds a degree in sports management. ENDS