NEW ZEALAND WHITE SOX APPOINTS COACHING AND MANAGEMENT STAFF. 

Softball New Zealand are pleased to announce the appointment of Craig Wallace as the new Head Coach of the New Zealand White Sox. The former Black Sox player has spent the last 15 years as a coach and mentor, continuing to pass on knowledge and experiences to the next generation of athletes. Wallace was the head coach of the Danish Men’s softball team at the 2022 WBSC Softball World Cup, also having worked as an assistant coach / technical advisor for the NZ Major Sox and Junior White Sox squads.

Wallace has coached the Hutt Valley women's team to NFC titles, whilst also coaching the St Pats Silverstream Boys to their first ever NZ secondary school title in 2023. He has been the coach of the Hutt City United Men’s team, was technical adviser for the HV U19 Boys representative team and at a local level has coached junior level at Saints.

When asked to comment on his new position with the White Sox, Wallace said: "This is a huge honour and I’m looking forward to working with New Zealand’s top female athletes, at an exciting time for not only the the White Sox but the entire Female program in NZ.

I have been involved in Softball for the past 40 years and have a great love and passion for our sport both as a player and now as a coach. There have been a lot of learnings over the past 12-15 years of my coaching career...coaching at every level of the game in this country has helped me refine my coaching skills and I can’t wait to bring those skills to the White Sox program.

With a strong Softball IQ, in-game management and strategy are some of the strengths that I bring to this position as well as a strong defensive aptitude and the ability to build strong relationships with my players. Being employed in the coaching and development space for the past 8 years has allowed me to work alongside other sports and community programs, which I’ve also been able to take a lot of learnings from.

He added "I want to thank my family for all the support over the years as I’ve continued to develop in this sport, especially to Mum and Dad who have always been in my corner and instilling in me that initial love I have for this game".

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Softball New Zealand is also pleased to announce the appointment of Stephen Ratu as Assistant Coach and Mel Gettins as Battery Coach for the New Zealand White Sox. The duo will be working closely alongside head coach Craig Wallace as they prepare for the Oceania Qualifier and WBSC Group Stage (2026).

Stephen Ratu debuted for the New Zealand Black Sox in 1999 where he attended two World Series. In his playing career he travelled the world representing numerous teams before turning his knowledge, passion and skills down to the players that he has coached over the past 10 years. Ratu has coached the Canterbury Red Hawkes for the past 3 years and has also taken the PCU Angels through to the last two Women’s Open Club National Championships. He has been involved with softball for the past 40 years and has gained a passion for it both as a player and, more recently, a coach. He looks forward to bringing his knowledge and skills to benefit those within the WSX program.

Ratu said “I am very grateful for the opportunity to be named the Assistant Coach of the White Sox. It comes with both a privilege and a challenge, but something I am very much looking forward to. I am excited to share my passion and skills to ensure the White Sox are able to excel to the best of their ability.”

Melanie Gettins grew up in Hawke’s Bay in a “softball family” with both her parents (Kevin & Charmaine) and her two younger siblings (Josh & Courtney) playing and/or coaching softball to a high level. Mel attended the U19 World Champs in Netherlands (2007) and then went onto attend five women’s World Championships’ - Venezuela (2010), Canada (2012), Netherlands (2014), Canada (2016), Japan (2018) and the Olympic Qualifier in China (2019), with many other tours around the world during her career. This busy span of time resulted in Mel holding the record of most games played for the New Zealand White Sox at 178 games. She is 4th on the test caps list sitting at 82 caps.

Mel graduated in 2011 from Iona College (NY) with a degree in Accounting with Honours, while playing for and captaining the Iona College softball team. Mel was awarded Women’s Player of the Year in 2014 and also went onto win the prestigious NZ Softballer of the year award. Mel was fortunate enough to have played a professional season in Italy for Forli in 2013. She also played for NZ ISA Women at the European Cup in 2019. Beyond her playing career, Mel has designed a softball charting solution called chartIT which lead to her having the opportunity to join her sister Courtney on the softball team staff at the University of Texas in Spring 2021 in a volunteer analyst role while learning from Coach Mike White. She was also the Team Scout for the New Zealand Black Sox at the 2022 World Championship in Auckland and an assistant coach for the ISA Women’s team that competed in the Queensland State Championships earlier this year.

Gettins said “I’m honoured to have the opportunity to join such a knowledgeable coaching staff for the White Sox and a chance to impact New Zealand Women’s softball. Coaching at this level has always been a dream and I’m excited for us to get to work!”. We are thrilled to have these two talented softballers supporting our New Zealand White Sox programme.

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Lastly, we are also pleased to announce the reappointment of Elizabeth 'Lil' Natana as Team Scorer and Kylie Dalton as the White Sox Team Manager.

 Kylie is an outstanding communicator, highly organised and known to get stuff done. Her recent NFC involvement and time supporting women's premier club softball alongside her professional background as a school teacher having planned and led many camps including helping lead two overseas trips combined a great fit for the team. Kylie is excited to be returning to the White Sox Manager’s role after joining the management team ahead of the 2024 Canada Cup tour.

We are thrilled to have these four talented staff supporting our New Zealand White Sox programme and athletes.

Article added: Tuesday 12th November 2024