YK Poudel

After a three-day selection camp, Bhutan now has its first national women’s team comprising 20 players.

Bhutan Baseball and Softball Association (BBSA) carried out the selection process.

The Under-18 softball national team comprise entirely of school students aged between 11 and 16 years. A total of 27 participants attended the selection process.

Team Captain, Tenzin Dolkar, 16, a student of Dechencholing Higher Secondary School said that most of the players are young and have got potential to compete in U18 tournaments in the next two years.




“The selected players will be training twice a month and will be trained till they are ready to compete in the region,” she said.

“The biggest challenge for BBSA is the lack of facility and equipment. We do not have adequate equipment and the association has to fully depend on international donors,” she said.

The team does not have a proper ground where the players can train regularly.

According to the Head Coach of the Bhutan Baseball and Softball Association, Marvin Moore, who will be training both male and female national teams, “the players are all below 16 years and are being trained for under-18 teams.”




“Bhutanese young players have potential and can perform well in the future. BBSA will be conducting the national selection camp for softball in other dzongkhags as well,” he said.

He said that Baseball in the region is slowly picking up and Bhutan has a good scope for baseball. “Many children want to play baseball yet we have trouble getting into rural areas because we don’t have enough equipment for which we have started it as Thimphu centric team in the initial period. ”

The players according to the head coach will be facilitated with the attire and equipment. “However, we cannot provide them a salary for now as the association lacks financial assistance from the government.”

BBSA has been playing all its baseball games at the Motithang Higher Secondary School’s ground.

 

Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two opposing teams, consisting of nine players each take turns batting and fielding.

The association plans to reach out to other regions such as Phuentsholing, Samtse, Wangduephodrang, Gelephu and Paro starting the next month for dzongkhag tours and play-friendly matches in the region as an initial start-up.

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