Forty-one students from Year 5 & 6, who expressed an interest in softball either by playing for a club or interested to find out more, got to experience the world of Softball.

On Thursday 24th November, Sherwood was lucky enough to be selected to get a visit from the team from Czech Republic. Students had the chance to meet some of the players, ask questions and join in some physical activity.

The team was warmly welcomed by a performance from Sherwood's Kapa Haka group. The students then participated in a Q&A session to find out more about softball, the players, their country and all things in between. The students had clearly done their homework and asked thought provoking questions worthy of any Sky Sports interview.

After the Q&A session, the players were positively swarmed by our students with pens and things to sign. Players and students mixed and mingled, sharing stories and asking further questions. Typically our students love to play and they wasted no time grabbing softballs, gloves and gear to play with the Czech players who were just as keen to play!

It seemed the players didn't want to leave and their coaches joked they would leave them at Sherwood to keep playing, however, they were eager to check out the local beaches.

Not only did they get to meet the players, the same students headed out to Rosedale Park on Monday 28th November, where the 2022 Softball World Cup is being hosted.

Arriving earlier then scheduled, our students were quick to settle in their seats in preparation for the Canada vs South Africa game then immediately went exploring the venue. Some went straight for the food stalls, some for the batting cages and some on the search for more signatures.

Working our newly formed connections, a small group of students and Mr. Smart were invited to walk through the restricted areas to watch some of the countries warm up before their games. Our group were keen to reconnect with the players from Czech Republic who hadn't arrived yet. However, Team USA were conveniently doing batting practice on the training grounds. Our students went to work fast collecting any loose softballs and throwing them to the players.

Once the warm up concluded, Team USA were eager to meet the students who gifted them with team pins and signed anything in sight (don't worry, they were dissuaded from signing the students uniforms!). Some of the students were even lucky enough to receive batting gloves and softballs from the players. We stayed for a team photo and wished them good luck because we just saw our mates from Czech Republic and wanted to say hello before returning to the Canada vs South Africa game.

Once we returned to our seats, the students got to experience the might of Canada as they made quick work of South Africa. Although they lost, South Africa were humble in defeat and our crew congratulated them (and of course got more signatures!). Team Canada were very kind and let the students gate-crash their photos and congratulated them on their win.

It was nearing time to head to the bus. But our Sherwood students wanted more softball action so we jumped from one stadium to the next to watch our friends from Czech Republic take on our new friends from USA. By 2.30pm everyone was back on the bus heading back to Sherwood.

We hope the students enjoyed the experience and we will perhaps look to get involved in softball in 2023. I know East Coast Bays Softball is always looking for more players!

A massive thank you to Harbour Softball for the VIP treatment our students received. We are very thankful our students were able to experience such an awesome event.

Ngā mihi

Andrew Smart

Physical Education Specialist & Sports Coordinator

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