Auckland Softball January Newsletter

CAMERON DUNCAN U18
NORTHERN REGION TOURNAMENT
15-17th January 2021
Colin Lawrie Park, Pukekohe

Cameron Duncan [20 April 1986 - 12 November 2003] was an outstanding young player for Waitakere Bears and Auckland, as well as an aspiring young film director. Cameron was passionate about everything he did and gained a lot of respect from players, coaches, parents and officials in his short life.

This year, the Northern Region U18's tournament will be named after Cameron Duncan. For future years, the ASA plan to host a Northern Region U18's tournament in December as a warm-up to the National tournament's in January.

To view the draw CLICK HERE
To view the location of the park CLICK HERE

JANUARY
The month for our age-grade Auckland Representative teams to show their skills against the other associations around the country. A highlight would be the Auckland U23 Men and Women taking out their respective tournaments and our Auckland U13 Boys A winning the Brad Rona Classic.

FEBRUARY
National Fastpitch Championship (NFC) falls in the month of February, along with the Rookie Sox Classic, and many of the Premier club tournaments. One key moment was when our NFC Women regained the title as National Champions after beating Canterbury 7-0 in the final!

MARCH
Finals month for all our teams! We were very lucky to be able to complete our season and in such a fantastic way! One location and 37 exciting games over 2 beautiful Summer days brought the end to the 2019/2020 season.

APRIL
Home workouts, board games and baking endless amounts of banana bread became the norm as the country went into Level 4 lockdown. This was a tough stage for many, but the chance to spend time with our loved ones (whether in person or virtually) was certainly a unique and memorable moment.

MAY
With the cancellation of Club Nationals, the ASA hosted 'Virtual Club Nationals'. A social media campaign run over 20 days on Facebook saw the Mirimar Premier Women and Island Bay Premier Men taking out the Virtual Championship titles for 2020. An entertaining few weeks to keep our Softball community together through the tough times.

JUNE
The restrictions lifted as New Zealand moved to Level 1!!!

JULY
The annual Auckland Softball AGM went ahead as planned, allowing us to gather and celebrate the success of some of our members over the past year (2019/20). Continue reading for a full acknowledgement of all the award winners!

To view the 2019/20 Annual Report CLICK HERE

AUGUST
Softball New Zealand announced their annual award winners. Congratulations to Gwen Fletcher (Administrator of the Year), Ricky Earley (Personality of the Year), Lynnette Leathart (Scorer of the Year), Otahuhu (Club of the Year), Jennifer Feret-Brear (Women's Pitcher of the Year), Stefanie Smith (Women's Player of the Year) and Thomas Enoka (Men's Player of the Year).

SEPTEMBER
Give Softball a Go month! Although many of these events never went ahead, the clubs still got behind the campaign and worked hard to gain newcomers to our sport.

OCTOBER
The first pitch was thrown on the 31st of October and it has been all go since then!

To view all upcoming games CLICK HERE

NOVEMBER
The start of Fastball 45 for 2020! The Auckland Men and Women Fastball 45 teams went head to head to determine who was advancing to the National finals. The Central Auckland Bolts (MEN) and the West Waves (WOMEN) progressed to the finals weekend unbeaten.

DECEMBER
Fastball 45 finals weekend and both the Auckland teams (Bolts and Waves) fought hard and ended the weekend as Fastball 45 National Champions for 2020! The Brad Rona Classic was also a highlight, where the U13 Northern Region teams travelled to Sturges Park, Otahuhu for 2 days of fantastic Softball. Awesome work by our Auckland Kikorangi Girls team for winning the Girls section.

We want to acknowledge and congratulate our ASA Annual Award winners once again since we were unable to hold our Representative Evening and Awards Evening in December. It is a massive achievement and we thank everyone who put forward nominations for these awards.

Dunstan Memorial Trophy (Most Games Umpired in a Season) - Matt Sneddon, 123 games
Auckland Softball Umpires Association Cup (Most Improved Junior Umpire) - Dion Sneddon
Gordon Gibb Shield (Most Improved Junior Female Umpire) - Tarsha Raina Nash
Lady Umpires Cup (Most Appointments in a Season) - Heidi Leathart
Jean Humphreys Trophy (Scorer of the Year) - Debbie Townley
ASA Service Awards - Amanda Kohlhase and Deborah Douglas
Eric Kohlhase Memorial (ASA Club Volunteer of the Year) - Michelle Pickett
Nominations: Aimee Russell, Dean King, Geoff Baber, Jessica Duncan, Max Maoate, Megan Earley, Michelle Pickett, Roman Gabriel, Santana Hala
Dick Bedggood Memorial (ASA Volunteer of the Year) - Jamie Brear
Dick Brockliss Shield (Junior Female Sportsperson of the Year) - Megan Sneddon
Dick Brockliss Shield (Junior Male Sportsperson of the Year) - Harrison Wildbore
Senior Female Sportsperson of the Year - Tyla Morrison
Senior Male Sportsperson of the Year - Connor Peden
Ben Davis Memorial (Overall Softballer of the Year) - Seth Gibson
Collegians Trophy (Club of the Year) - Mt Albert Ramblers
Life Membership - Robbie Cardwell

NORTHERN REGION DIVVIES
The ASA is hosting a Northern Region Divvies Tournament at Colin Lawrie Park, Pukekohe on Saturday 27th March.

End the season with a bang and round up your family for a day in the sun playing Softball! There are three grades available: Division 1, Masters and Whānau Slow Pitch (Double and triple points for all 2nd & 3rd generations who score a run in the Whānau grade).

To register a team CLICK HERE. Team entry is $100 and there will be prize money for the winning team from each grade.

DID YOU KNOW?
That the ASA have their very own app?

For the very first "Did you know" segment of our newsletter, we are starting with our mobile app and what exactly you can use it for. We have recently updated the home screen to ensure that you have all the essential information at your fingertips. This includes:

Draws, standings and results (fixtures)
Club information
Website link
Ground Registration from
Club Tool Box
Softball Calendar
Alerts
Contact information
Facebook
Officials login (to submit team sheets and enter a final game score)

If you think we are missing a key section on our mobile app homepage, we would love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Please email Zoe at events@softballauckland.org.nz

The Auckland Softball App can be downloaded through the links below

Game of the Month: January

So it was a big day on Saturday for the Marist Premier Women. Not only was it their first home game on the new diamond...