Ballers capped and ready for world cup

Khanya Kamisa, Joshua Cook, Sthembiso Chuma, Caylum de Wet and Tatum White are part of the 18-men squad to represent South Africa.

July 22, 2022

Lebohang Pita 2 minutes read

The travelling players. Back: Clifford White. Front: Khanya Kamisa, Joshua Cook, Sthembiso Chuma, Caylum de Wet and Tatum White.

It was excitement galore as the five Easterns Baseball Association (EBA) players going to the WBSC U12 Baseball World Cup in Taiwan were awarded their national caps at a ceremony held at the Benoni Northerns Sports Club on July 19.

Khanya Kamisa, Joshua Cook, Sthembiso Chuma, Caylum de Wet and Tatum White are part of the 18-men squad to represent South Africa at the showpiece in the city of Tainan from July 29 to August 7.

Benoni Indians coach Clifford White will travel with the squad as one of head coach Ian Griebenow’s assistants.

SABU officials pose with the travelling players. Back: Paddy van Niekerk, Lesley Cook and Clifford White. Front: Sthembiso Chuma, Caylum de Wet, Joshua Cook, Khanya Kamisa and Tatum White.

Dressed in the Gauteng Province Baseball Council colours, the players couldn’t contain their excitement as South African Baseball Union vice president Paddy van Niekerk called them to the podium to collect their caps.

Van Niekerk told the Benoni City Times the union had a difficult time trimming the squad down to 18 because of the abundance of talent in the country. Furthermore, he encouraged the players to go to Taiwan for the experience as they are the future of baseball in the country.

“Our expectation is for these youngsters to go out and have fun. We don’t want to put pressure on this age group.

“It’s important that they go out there and experience the big leagues, big stadiums with lots of spectators because if we can get our guys started at this age group, they can only get better as they go through all the age groups,” he said.

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SABU officials pose with the players and reserves. Back: Paddy van Niekerk, Lesley Cook and Clifford White. Middle: Sthembiso Chuma, Caylum de Wet, Joshua Cook, Khanya Kamisa and Tatum White. Front: Logan Gardner, Keagan Merifield, Tshidiso Hlomuka and Claudi Khosa.

He stated that SABU’s development drive will focus on developing areas and schools. He also commended the Benoni Indians and Edenvale Imps for playing a crucial role in the development of the sport.

“We’ve got into a lot of developing areas and schools to get learners involved in the game so that they can then join clubs and make them better.

“The Benoni Indians and Edenvale Imps have got good development programmes. They have adopted a lot of clubs from the surrounding townships. They have got a lot of representation from their development programmes on the GPBC side.

“For us as SABU, we congratulate Gauteng for developing players from such a young age. We hope other provinces can come on board and do as good a job as what they are doing.”

Paddy van Niekerk is the vice-president of the South African Baseball Union.

In a moving message, SABU player representative Brandon Bouillon encouraged the players to embrace the experience.

“These players will have their eyes pop out of their heads. The experience for them is going to be out of this world. To be in the top 18 in your country is a huge honour.

“Anytime you get to put on the shirt, cap and fly the flag, it touches you inside. The heart beats out of your chest, tears roll down your cheeks during the national anthem. It’s these things that not everybody gets to experience.

“They should embrace it, be there in the moment because before you know it, it’s over,” Bouillon said.

Also Read: Baseball extravaganza at Benoni Northerns