Limpopo softball team “Dinare” shines at the Premier League
The Limpopo Dinare softball team has won all its games during the Softball Premier League hosted at Cricket Club, Polokwane from 18 – 19 May 2019 over the weekend. Dinare is leading the log with twelve (12) points from seven matches played followed by Gauteng Gold Spears with ten (10) points. The league is played under the slogan “GoTlaFisha” which loosely translated means “It will be hot”. All provinces participated in the Softball Premier League except Northern Cape.
The teams will be jetting-off to Cape Town for the final leg of the league which will be played at Turfhall stadium, Cape Town on the 1st June 2019. Limpopo Coach, Mr Lemmy Raphasha is confident the provincial team will clinch title. “Automatically we qualify to play the grand final. Number two on the log will play with number three, while the winner will play against us,” Coach Lemmy Raphasha indicated. “This shows we mean business in softball,” he added.
Limpopo has seven players that are participating in the national team. Taking into cognizance that a softball team comprises of seventeen players, this is a huge contribution to the sport. The national team will be competing at Czech Republic. “This shows Limpopo has well developed, because we have huge representation of players that surpass other provinces. On the same breath, Limpopo sends two Assistant coaches (one from Polokwane and the other from Moletlane) to national team. There is also a youngest player on my team at the age of 19 years,” Coach Raphasha highlighted.
“We promise that come the 1st June 2019, when we return home the trophy will be in our hands. I am confident that we will come with it. We are the home of Softball,” he promised. Raphasha indicated that in previous years Limpopo has won the league four years in succession.
The MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture, Thandi Moraka says the Premier League was launched in recent weeks. “Just three weeks back I was with the Minister of Sport and Recreation, Ms Tokozile Xasa in Gauteng MilPark to launch the Softball Premier League. This Premier League is incorporating both men and women teams from various provinces. As you continue playing in the sporting code of softball, bear in mind that this is a very expensive sporting code that we are implementing as national and provincial government. Government has invested a lot of resources towards making sure that this sport is been played in our various provinces,” said MEC Moraka.
Softball in partnership with the Department of Sport and Recreation South Africa have achieved a big milestone in the country and in the continent. The Softball Premier League is launched in the country and the first non-racial national league to be played in the country since the dawn of democracy.
Softball South Africa was formed in 1995 after the unity negotiations by three previous national associations that operated along racial lines prior to 1995. The three associations were: National Softball Association (NSA) from coloured community, African Softball Association (ASA) from the white community and South African Softball Federation (SASF) from the black community. The following are results for Limpopo team against various provinces:
- Mpumalanga vs Limpopo 7 – 16
- Limpopo vs Free State 13 – 1
- Western Cape vs Limpopo 6 – 13
- Limpopo vs North-West 11 – 2
- Limpopo vs Gauteng 3 – 1
- Limpopo vs Eastern Cape 15 – 0
- Kwa-Zulu Natal vs Limpopo 1 – 7
