Event News
REMOVAL OF U17 BOYS AND GIRLS NATIONAL TOURNAMENT TEAMS
13 January 2023
The naming of national age grade tournament teams has been traditional practice for decades where a Tournament Team (All-Star type team) is named at the conclusion of the tournament.
Moving forward Tournament Teams will no longer be a part of the U17 National Boys and Girls closing ceremony.
Softball NZ is committed to change through the Balance is Better principles, reviewing existing competition structures to ensure our youth are challenged, develop, improve, and be part of a team. The change highlights our commitment to change and alignment to the National Sporting collective.
The naming of tournament teams provides the perception of selecting the best, when in reality it’s a deselection of the rest.
Our youth are speaking with their feet. National data shows that too many young New Zealanders, especially in their teenage years, are walking away from sport. Sport NZ highlights a variety of reasons why youth leave sport. Through research, Sport NZ have identified the main issues contributing to declining participation rates:
- Being expected to play like professionals
- Believing that you must make the top team or rep’ team
- Adult pressure to “be the best” and not make mistakes.
Please note the removal of the tournament teams does not apply to U19 Boys and Girls National Championships. U19 National Championships will remain our pinnacle event for age grade events with a Tournament team being named during the closing ceremony.
Squads or teams selected by national coaches will continue to be part of the closing ceremony if applicable at the time.
SHOWTIME
4 July 2022
From being starved of softball to a plethora of softball, the line-up of quality tournaments on offer between October and December this year is unprecedented.
Three quality events including the Tradestaff NFC, Golden Homes BSX Invitational Club Challenge and the Tradestaff International Invitation Series will lead their way into November’s Tradestaff WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup.
As previously communicated the Tradestaff NFC will run this October in Christchurch over the Labour Weekend, having been rescheduled from last season due to ‘that’ pandemic.
Softball NZ will host the Golden Homes BSX Invitation Club Challenge at Rosedale Park November 4-6.
The purpose of the event is to assemble quality male club teams with the aim of providing intense competition for the Golden Homes Black Sox as they prepare for the upcoming Tradestaff WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup.
The three day tournament will include eight club teams including local pickups to strengthen their chances of being victorious.
To ensure the event is meaningful for the Black Sox the opposing teams will start with runners on base each inning.
Prize Money
As an incentive $12k of prize money is up for grabs, making the tournament New Zealand’s largest ever purse. The prize money will be awarded as follows:
• Winner $5K
• Runner Up $2K
• $500 MVP (non BSX player)
• $500 for team/s that beat the BSX ($4K)
• $500 Miscellaneous prizes
• Total Prizes = $12K
Eight teams have been confirmed their intent to battle against the Black Sox, including:
• Papanui Tigers
• Poneke Kilbirnie
• Porirua City United
• Mount Albert Ramblers
• Auckland United
• Roosters
• Auckland Marist
• Hutt Valley Dodgers
The BSX Invitation Club Challenge will then flow into the Tradestaff International Invitation Series at Colquhoun Park, Palmerston North, November 18-20.
The series will feature the elite of the softball world with the top 6 federations convening in what is being dubbed as a mini world cup.
Reigning world champs and recently crowned Pan American champions Argentina will be the team to watch followed by Japan (2), Canada (3), Australia (4), Czech Republic (5) and New Zealand (6).
The three day tournament will not only provide an ideal opportunity for competing teams to ready themselves for the world cup but bring international softball back to Palmerston North, the venue of the WBSC U18 Boys Softball World Cup in 2020.
SOFTBALL NZ EVENT DELIVERY 2022
17 February 2022
Softball NZ has previously communicated that the postponed February NFC has been confirmed for Christchurch during Labour Weekend (October 21-24). Furthermore, Softball NZ wishes to engage with members next week as to the potential of running an NFC (or similar product) in February 2023.
Softball NZ will host a Men's Invitation Club Challenge at Rosedale Park November 4-6. The event will be supported by Golden Homes and Tradestaff and will include the Black Sox World Cup team, as well as 3 club teams from the Northern Region, and two each from the Central and Southern regions. Further information on this exciting initiative will be provided next week including details of the purse.
The Tradestaff Men's Open Club Championships will unfortunately not be held this calendar year and will return in March 2023.
The Sky Sport Women's Open Club Championships will unfortunately not be held this calendar year and will return in March 2023.
The NZ Secondary School Championships will unfortunately not be held this calendar year and will return in 2023. This includes Division 1 & 2 Championships and the South Island Championships.
The Sky Sport Quad Series will unfortunately not be run this calendar year and will be rescheduled for April 2023.
COMPETITIVE PLAYER SURVEY
12 February 2022
Softball NZ has designed a survey to help increase our understanding of the goals and needs of the competitive player.
The key objective of this survey is to gather insights allowing Softball NZ to support those players travelling through the competitive pathway. The competitive pathway includes athletes selected for national squads/teams and all those competing in our national tournaments.
By understanding the needs and expectations of the competitive player we will be able to support softballers to perform at the desired level.
To complete the survey click here
Thank you for taking the time to assist us with this survey, we are very appreciative.
Click here to view Softball NZ’s recently developed Player Journey resource for further information.
NATIONAL AGE GRADE TOURNAMENT RESTRUCTURE
Memo including Softball NZ’s intent to the Sport NZ Balance is Better initiative.
Softball NZ’s Age Grade National & Regional Formats Framework.
Development camps, FASTBALL games, and age-appropriate formats are examples of other events that may best assist individuals with their development, relative to their current needs.
AGE GRADE NATIONALS - 2020/2021
Key changes to the Softball NZ Age Grade National Championships for this upcoming 2020/21 season.
Softball NZ Memo
NFC, OPEN CLUBS, & SNZ SECONDARY SCHOOL TOURNAMENTS - 2020/2021
Confirmed key dates and venues for the National Fastpitch Championship (NFC), Men’s & Women’s Open Clubs, and the Softball NZ Secondary School tournaments for this upcoming 2020/21 season.
Softball NZ Memo
OPEN CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP CANCELLED
Dear Members
Our NZ Prime Minister has just declared that there should be no gatherings greater than 500 people at any non-essential events. These events should be cancelled to help stop the spread of coronavirus. The link below is the announcement from our Prime Minister (28:20 into the video);
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/watch-live-prime-minister-speaks-media-amid-ongoing-coronavirus-upheaval-in-new-zealand?auto=0
Our Open Club tournaments are classed as non-essential events, and when we take into account individual teams, support staff, officials, volunteers required to run each event, our numbers easily surpass the 500 threshold.
We have looked into alternate scenarios including postponement, however softball NZ does not control the total use of our multisport facilities in both Christchurch, and Auckland where grass diamonds will also be in play. By placing our participants at the forefront of our decision-making and based on the latest government advisory we have come to a decision that the Mens & Womens Open Club championships are to be cancelled.
We appreciate that this decision will cause some hardship, but with the best interests of our members at heart, and the greater wellbeing of our softball community, this decision is final.
Softball NZ
NEW NATIONAL TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE
7 May, 2018
Following feedback received from associations and national teams Softball NZ is announcing a move to align national age-grade tournaments from next season.
Following the realignment announcement last month by WBSC to U23, U18, and U15 world cup events across both genders commencing 2020, engagement was sort from associations and national team programmes as to the feasibility of national tournament alignment.
Overwhelmingly the response had been positive.
However, to ensure a fair and reasonable expectation for all association teams competing at new age-grade events Softball NZ is looking at opportunities within tournaments in so far as ensuring all games at all levels have meaningful outcomes.
The 2018/19 tournament event dates are as follows:
- U23 January 4-6
- U15 January 10-13
- U18 January 17-20
- 2018-19 Tournament allocations here
- The U15 tournaments are national events
- Tournaments can be extended by a day depending on entries