THE IMPORTANCE OF CELEBRATING SUCCESS

During the off season, SNZ will be promoting some of the positive initiatives and programmes that have been rolled out around the country. Driven by the hard work of our associations (and their volunteers), we will be highlighting some of the incredible work that has seen softball adapt and grow within the regions! When we speak of success, we are not referring only to results, wins and championships. We are celebrating the process and development, the motivations and positive outcomes in our sport.

This week, we shine a spotlight on the impressive growth within the Western Bay of Plenty Softball Association, and some of the initiatives which contributed to their success this season.

Just a three hour drive from Auckland is the sunny Bay of Plenty - home of Western Bay of Plenty Softball Association. Carlton Reserve in Tauranga has two fenced skin diamonds and the capabilities for up to four (4) grass diamonds on the park, and is host to weekly games and the infamous 'Play in the Bay' tournament. It might not have any clubrooms, and a few drainage problems, but it does have two GRANDSTANDS behind each home plate AND the best atmosphere which is a combination of competitiveness and friendliness.

Their biggest achievement last season was the growth in their senior teams from 14 to 20. Most of the new additions were teams travelling from Rotorua and Whakatane to join, meaning half of the competition were based outside the 'city'. Players would travel up to an hour and a half to Tauranga, every Saturday, to play Softball. To help keep costs and travel down, the two Whakatane teams would play double headers every fortnight in a rotation. To support the players and clubs of Rotorua, for the first time, they played, two Saturday’s games hosted by the whanau of two of the Rotorua sports clubs. While the association made attempts to send a men’s team to the 2024 NFC Championships (unfortunately it didn’t eventuate, but is on the cards for next season) they decided to organise Men’s and Women’s Rotorua Vs WBOP NFC in-house competition that was well received by all.

Another win last season was the emergence of an exceptional and passionate Softballer in Whakatāne that decided to start up a Slowpitch module in town. After a couple of weeks learning the game, they ran a very successful 6 team Slowpitch competition, which goes to show the true value of softball volunteers. He then joined a Tauranga men’s fastpitch team, coached one of the Whakatane Ladies teams, umpired, learnt how to score AND ran some Junior Softball musters!

Not to be outdone, Rotorua restarted Junior Softball on Sunday mornings - something which had not been achieved for some time, but was seen as a neccessity by a keen 'softball dad'. This was a fantastic achievement for the region, with the addition of a Slowpitch competition on the to-do-list for Rotorua this season.

Without a Junior Co-ordinator and committee, or a club structure to foster junior teams, Tauranga Junior Softball has unfortunately declined down to just two Tee-ball teams on a Saturday. Reestablishing the juniors competition is a priority for the association this season, and they have been in discussions with Tauranga City Baseball Club to discuss areas where it would be mutually beneficial to work together, particularly with the juniors in Tauranga. A fantastic foot in the door had been entering an Under 20 Women's team into the Easter Classic this season, offering valuable experience to young women against North Harbour and Auckland. This team will be the base for the WBOP U19 girls’ team for the 2024/2025 season, who will be attending nationals in January.

Recently, Tauranga City Council had proposed (as part of their Long-Term Plan) charging sports that used fields $225.00 +gst per hour, per field for training ($3100.00 per season) and a match fee of $225+gst per game ($41,600.00 per season). This would be the death of many sports in Tauranga, including Softball. President Paul Goodall presented their case to the city commissioners and was also invited to a special committee set up after the sporting community uproar over the proposal. Luckily the council listened, abandoned the idea of the match fee, and they are treating the “training fee” as a general fee for the use of the grounds and facilities. Off season, improvements at the park continue with installation of Flyball nets and artificial turf batters’ boxes and the painting of the recently installed wooden dugout roofs.

In the coming season, WBOP look forward to re-establishing ties with their neighboring associations – Waikato and Counties - through the ‘Battle of the Bombay’s” Softball Tournament. This competition brings all three associations together in an all-grade tournament close to Christmas, this year hosted by Waikato.

Every season in April, the WBOP Softball Association host “Play in the Bay’, a fastball 45 styled tournament for Senior Division 1-3 teams. The tournament draws teams from all around the north island, with a high level of competitiveness and fun had by all 13 teams this year.

Well done Western Bay of Plenty on the fantastic initiatives and growth!

Article added: Wednesday 12 June 2024