Kiwi softball legend Mark Sorenson will guide the Black Sox to the next ISF World Championships and the defence of their title won in Auckland this year.
The head coaching role of the national men's team has been the subject of considerable speculation in recent weeks, since incumbent Eddie Kohlhase confirmed he was stepping down from the role he held for nine years.
Sorenson's appointment becomes official today, capping an exhaustive selection process that saw many of the game's top coaches apply.
"This is the premier coaching position in world softball, so we expected a high calibre of applicants," says Softball NZ board member Nicky Sheriff.
"But, in the end, it was hard to go past perhaps the most famous name in New Zealand softball. Mark will bring 20 years of international playing experience to the role, with many of those as Black Sox captain."
Sorenson's previous coaching experience has included a stint as Junior Black Sox coach.
"This is obviously a huge honour for me, one that comes with a lot of tradition and a lot of success," he says.
"That Black Sox tradition is important to me - I'm really passionate about what we have.
"A lot of sports would love to have 10% of what we have achieved over the years and now I have a chance to continue that."
Sorenson's immediate challenge is to marshal his troops for the next world championship in 2015, now that the international body has shortened the cycle to just two years.
He will have to do that without several Black Sox veterans, who announced their retirements after the triumph at Rosedale Park in March. Sorenson witnessed that success up close as TV commentator and official ISF World Championship ambassador over the week.
"That was the culmination of some fantastic careers and it's really important for us to recognise the contribution of these warriors," he says. "It's great to see Thomas Makea and Jarrad Martin now taking up the reins with the Under-19s, where I got my first taste of coaching at international level.
"Ultimately, the Black Sox are about sustainable world domination and it's important for us, across the men's programme, to have players continually developing through those junior ranks."
One of Sorenson's ambitions is to have more his team playing more often in New Zealand and building on the support shown at the world championship.
He will now begin working closely with Softball NZ to assemble a coaching and management team to support his programme.
