Thumbs up from Shaw

The co-founder of the annual Division Two North Island Secondary Schools Softball Championships, Naomi Shaw, is in Wanganui this week overseeing its seventh running and likes what she sees.

Shaw, the New Zealand White Sox coach and New Zealand Hall of Famer, is also in the International Softball Federation of Hall of Fame after 50 years' service to the sport.

She was also captain of the White Sox when the Kiwi women's team won gold in the 1982 world series.

Today, Shaw is employed by Softball New Zealand as an ambassador and mentor and this week she is at Braves Ballpark in Gonville watching her baby grow.

"I just love this game, I've been in it forever. I've been involved for 50 years since joining the Saints Softball Club in the Hutt Valley and after my playing days a couple of us decided to further develop the game by launching this division two competition to allow those below the top level a chance to compete, "Shaw said.

In 2006, Shaw teamed up with fellow softball greats Lyndsey Leask and Raewyn Judson to form the competition and it has grown the game from 20 teams to 60.

"I consider it one of my better achievements. It allows some of those lower-grade players to develop and gain experience over a couple of years before making the step up to the next level and just watching here in Wanganui there are some extremely good players," Shaw said.

"This year's competition was timely because we can leverage off the success of the Black Sox winning the world series just last week."

With nine boys' and seven girls' teams in Wanganui this week for the four-day competition, smooth administration was essential and Shaw said the Wanganui Softball Association had done a sterling job. "The facilities are also very good. Not too many centres around the country have three dirt diamonds to boast of. I'm more than happy to be here for the duration - I like what I see," Shaw said.