30 Aug 2023

Township Rollers will host a four-team football tournament dubbed One-day Extravaganza to be held at the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium on Saturday.

The tournament will have Rollers, Morupule Wanderers from Palapye, Eleven Angels and Tafic both from Francistown battling it out on the day.

Rollers chairperson, Bafana Pheto, in an interview, said it was a pre-season tournament aimed at preparing teams for the upcoming 2023/24 league season.

“Township Rollers initiated the tournament to prepare for the upcoming league, which is scheduled to start on September 16,” said Pheto.

He indicated that Township Rollers would also use the tournament to officially introduce its 2023/24 full squad to its supporters in the northern side of Botswana. 

Quizzed on whether there would be some prize money, Pheto said participating teams would be given appearance fees and could not comment on the amount.

Last season, Popa as Rollers is also known, finished in position four, a first, for the team which has always dominated in football circles. 

For his part, Eleven Angels coach, Seemo Sixteen said the tournament was a good initiative for his team, which was promoted to the elite league last season.

He said Eleven Angels would use the tournament to gauge their preparedness  for the season and check the combination of old and new players.

“Our aim is to build a new team that will represent the interest of its followers on the elite league. 

Our aim is not to win the tournament but to prepare for the next league season, which is crucial in the elite league calendar,” he added.  

The coach was not worried despite losing some of the critical players to other teams.

The team lost striker Eric Ookame to Orapa United, side wing player, Tlotlo Kgaolo to Rollers and central defence player, Shanganani Ngadla to Tafic.   ENDs