PHOTO: Lemo Raphasha – South African Softball Team Head Coach, Lemo Raphasha.
The future has never been as bright as it is now for South African softball coaches originating from Limpopo, inarguably the ancestral home of the Ballgame.
With the 2022 Softball World Cup in Auckland, New Zealand fast approaching, the boom time is also likely to be reflected in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s ultimate Holy Grail.
The coaching staff headed by Lemo Raphasha, his assistants in Thapelo Seshoka, Thabang Letsoalo, Nakedi Raphalo and completed by the pitching mentor, Nakedi Mohlake will have a good deal of déjà vu on this tour Down Under.
All these coaches are proud graduates from the old school of the Great North Softball Association, coaching a national team dominated by phenomenal players who meteorically rose from the ranks of Limpopo Softball Association.
This gang of softball intelligentsia will be in New Zealand not only representing Limpopo, not only flying the South African flag but proudly representing the African continent.
Raphasha and Co. personify what makes the 2022 World Cup so appealing regardless of the demanding nature of this international assignment.
Reams have been written in some quarters of the world about how realities of the World Cup are loaded against the South African team – and they are!
But one gets the feeling that a new mood is sweeping through the African representatives.
Individual confidence and ebullience are the common denominator and now the players are standard bearers of a combative unit determined to change the all-too-stodgy approach of South African softball.
The reason is the appearances of any number of veterans and newcomers willing to embrace a more adventurous mindset, seemingly not dispirited by years of defeat and subconscious intimidation from so-called Softball Super Powers.
Spurred by a fine set of progressive coaches – particularly Raphasha’s no-nonsense approach – this breed just longs to go out and, literally give it a go.
Raphasha aptly summarised the fervour and magic of the World Cup when he said this tournament is the eventual achievement any softball athlete could dream of.
The approach to every game at the World Cup is deferent. This is an international competition, far deferent from the National Provincial Championships or the African Qualifiers. It is the accurate test to gauge whether the national game has developed or degenerated. ‘When a nation goes to a World Cup, the technical staff travels with all the artillery regiments for an all-out sporting war. It’s a battle royale… There’s no room for errors at this stage.’
Raphasha remarked.