Mosah Mokganedi
18 April 2008
Gaborone — The newly formed African Softball Confederation (ASC) holds its first meeting in Lusaka, Zambia tomorrow to elect an executive committee and to discuss the format of its competitions.
Currently, Marumo Morule of Botswana is the only official of ASC. He is the acting president. He told Mmegi Sport that about 10 countries are expected to attend the Lusaka meeting. The ASC was formed in 2006 after softball separated from baseball. The two were initially under the Africa Baseball and Softball Association (ABSA). Though the arrangement did not adversely affect Botswana, Morule said the mixture created a lot of problems. This is because competitions for baseball and softball were held at different times. Morule said that now they will run the affairs of softball without interference. He revealed that the first priority is to lobby for softball to make a comeback as an Olympic sport. The game was discarded from the Olympic programme after a review in 2005. Morule said the exclusion affected softball development, and dented players' morale and denied them international exposure.
The ASC will push for the Africa and Europe to have separate qualifiers for the Olympics. Morule said since the confederation was established, it has not been functional. He hopes it will start operating after the meeting. Morule is a vice president of International Softball Federation (Africa).
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