Victory glow will reflect on Nelson

March 13, 2013

---

HERE TO HELP: Marty Grant says he’s sticking around to help young Nelson players head for the top.

ORIGINAL STORY by Wayne Martin

 

Some of Nelson's softball hierarchy were in Auckland at the weekend to witness the Black Sox claim their sixth world championship crown. 

    For former Black Sox pitcher Marty Grant, who won three world championship rings from five campaigns, it allowed him to relive the glory days of past triumphs. 

    And for Nelson Softball Association chief executive Derryn French, it signalled another positive step towards developing and promoting the game throughout the region. 

    Both were among the elated band of New Zealand supporters who helped to celebrate the 4-1 win over Venezuela in Sunday's final. 

    While obviously delighted with the result, Grant said his overriding emotion was one of respect for the coaching staff and for a Black Sox squad that many had written off prior to the tournament. 

    "I felt respect for the coaches and for the guys who wanted to stick around and be a part of it, especially those guys who have been my team-mates in the past, people like Jarrad [Martin] and Thomas Makea especially, who'd battled to keep themselves in some sort of physical condition and form so that they could be a part of it," Grant said. 

    "I think those older heads actually carried them through, because they grabbed those young guys and brought them with them. So I was really respectful of that and Ed [coach Eddie Kohlhase], the contribution he's made over the years as part of that programme." 

    Grant said he enjoyed a celebratory tipple with Black Sox pitching coach and former team-mate Chubb Tangaroa after the final, and believed that the seed for the Black Sox's success was sown two nights previously, in a dramatic 5-4 win over Australia. 

    "The defining moment in that tournament, I guess, was when they played Australia, and I think they got them at the right time on a Friday night in front of a very parochial home crowd. 

    "I was a part of that, and the team was just ready to perform, and one of the things that I saw was the team really started to believe in themselves." 

    The world championship win was hard-earned and well-deserved, he said. 

    "The Venezuelans had nothing to lose. They'd already had an outstanding tournament to get there, and [New Zealand] took control of it, really." 

    French admitted that, like many New Zealanders, he was skeptical about the Black Sox's chances heading into the tournament. But he was delighted with the team's positive response to a pressure situation. 

    "I guess one of the most important things from that win from a men's perspective is that it probably helps to secure funding going forward for softball in general," he said. 

    With the local season almost over, French said the timing of New Zealand's victory wasn't ideal. But he was confident that the positive spinoffs from New Zealand's world champion status would still be fresh in people's minds come next season. 

    "We're very lucky in Nelson because we're very proactive in what we do. Our sport is reasonably well accepted in our community, which is positive. I don't think it'll be forgotten about. 

    "The difficulty we've got at the moment is we're on the tail end of our season, which finishes in a week's time. The likelihood of us being able to capitalise on it immediately is minimal. 

    "For me, I think where we'll capitalise on it is the continued promotion leading into the next season of the fact that we're world champions, and the help of Softball New Zealand in continuing to put that out there is important for us." 

    French said the Nelson association would continue to aggressively promote the game. 

    "We got the Black Sox here for their internal tour here in November, and we are respected throughout the softball circles throughout New Zealand as a proactive association. Our board are doing a good job and allowing the freedom for me as the CEO to make that stuff happen, so there will be positives." 

    As for Grant, he said he still wanted to play a part in helping to develop the game in Nelson. 

    "One of the things Nelson softball has going for them is that we've got some good people in some good places and we've got the best facility in the country, and maybe in the southern hemisphere, sitting right in our back yard. 

    "We need to continually try to improve and make this game something that people want to play and, I guess, a way Nelson could benefit directly is we could try to create the players that coaches want to select and have involved in their programmes at the elite level. 

    "That means trying to make sure that there's a good competition, that we've got good coaching, that we've got the right motives for getting kids towards that opportunity. 

    "If there's any contribution I can make locally, then I'll be around. I'm not going anywhere." 

- © Fairfax NZ News