Africa: Softball to be featured in Kenya's universities women's games as season kicks off

Africa: Softball to be featured in Kenya's universities women's games as season kicks off
02/03/2021
Kenya's national softball league opened on 27 February as the sport is being included in the KUSA Women’s Games 2021. Kenya is planning to attend the two WBSC Softball World Cup continental qualifiers this year.

After a long pause due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, softball is back in Kenya. Opening Day of the Kenya National Softball League was on 27 February at Kenyatta University, in Nairobi, for both the women’s and men’s categories. In addition, the Softball Federation of Kenya announced that women’s softball will be played in the Kenya Universities Sports Association (KUSA) women’s games, to be held in Mombasa this weekend.

The Kenya National Softball League opened season this past weekend, with 10 participating teams playing the first series of the year at the Kenyatta University in Nairobi. The host team claimed the men’s event, while the Kenya National Youth Service Softball Team won the women’s event.

The national league is played via individual series where teams accumulate points. Four more series are planned for the first half of the year, including the Meru University Series (27-28 April), the Dedan Kimathi University Series (22-23 May), the Multimedia University Series (19-20 June) and the Technical University of Mombasa Series (17-18 July).

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In addition, women’s softball will be played at this year’s KUSA Women’s Games, to be held at the Technical University of Mombasa from 5-8 March. KUSA is the national body that organises university sports in Kenya.

“The inclusion of Softball in this years KUSA Women’s Games event is a big confirmation that softball activities are back in Kenya after the long break caused by Covid-19 outbreak,” said Francis Njeru Karugu, President of the Softball Federation of Kenya. “It also confirms that softball has been well-received as a main sport in the Kenya University games calendar.”

The introduction of softball in the universities in Kenya was sponsored by the WBSC through the donation of starter kits in 2018.

Kenya, ranked 54th in the WBSC Women’s Softball World Rankings and fourth on the African continent, is still unranked in the men’s category. It may change in 2021, since the national governing body is planning to send national teams the two African continental qualifiers for the 2022 WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup and the U-23 Men's Softball World Cup.


Global Game