The Female Game

The Female Game is devoted to profiling and promoting female Softballers that have excelled nationally and internationally.

It promotes female pathways and profiles of those that are fortunate enough to gain a US scholarship and play ball through the US college system.

 The Womens National Programme

 The first National Womens Tournament dates back to the 1940s - played in, and won by Whanganui.

 Since then, the game has evolved on and off the diamond, where it is now played across 21 Associations, with an estimate 12,000 females from T-Ball to Adults.

 The National Provincial programme is played at U15, U17, U19 and Senior Level in the form of National Fastpitch Championships.

 In addition, teams across New Zealand compete each year to determine the best club in the country at National Womens Open Championships.

 New Zealands International Womens Programme

 Our New Zealand Womens team (NZ White Sox) are the 4th most successful nation overall, winning one gold (Taiwan, 1982), one silver and two bronze since the World Championships   started in 1965.

 The White Sox finished 8th in 2014 World Championships in Netherlands and will aim for the top 6 finish when they take on the world in Vancouver, Canada July, 2016.

 New Zealand Junior White Sox (U19s) have made significant strides over the past few years and currently hold world ranking of 6th. The next Junior World Championships are in   Florida, USA - July, 2017.

 International Womens Softball

 Softball is the most popular participating sport in the USA with an estimate 40 million Americans playing at least one game of softbal across a variety of levels each year. 127 countries   play the game worldwide.

 Olympic Softball

 Softball was an Olympic sport from 1996 to 2008. Unfortunately, Softball was removed from the programme for the 2012 and 2016 event. Efforts are underway for Softball to be   included in 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. A decision will be made after the completion of 2016 Rio Olympic Games. We will provide any updates.

 New Zealand White Sox attended the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia where they finished 7th. For more information on 2000 Olympic Games Click here

 At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the Japanese National Womens Softball Team pulled out an extra innings win against Australia with Rei Nishiyama belting a home run in the 12th   innings to reach the final. In the game prior, Japan lost 4-1 to USA with the Americans scoring four runs in the 9th, advancing the Americans through to the final.

 US College Softball

 College Softball in the USA is an extremely popular, exciting and competitive sport. The USA College system has provided around 30 scholarships to New Zealand female softballers and   provide an oppurtunity to play the game at an extremly high level, while recieving an education at the same time. For more information on US College System Click here or Click here     to view player profiles of those Kiwis who have undertaken a degree through the US college education system.