Womens World Softball Championships Venezuela

Written by SSGT Nicky Hansen

Over the period 14 Jun - 6 Jul 10, I was fortunate enough to be selected as the strapper for the White Sox at the Women's Softball World Championships in Venezuela. For those who are not softball "savvy", the White Sox are the New Zealand Women's Softball Team.

The team first assembled in Auckland for a two day training camp prior to flying out to Argentina. Part of the build up training involved team activities at the Sir Peter Blake Marine Recreational and Educational Centre in Auckland. This saw the team and management split into two teams and conduct team building activities. Great way to start the tour as this broke away all pretences and put everyone on an even playing field. The team dynamics fostered during these activities stayed for the duration of the tour.

SSGT Hansen and security guards at the Women's World Softball Championships in Venezuela (AW-10-1111-1).

The first leg of our trip saw us fly Aerolinas Argentina to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The trip from the airport to our accommodation was hair raising to say in the least. Although there were road markings on our three lane motorway no one paid attention to them at all and at one stage we were six vehicles abreast with our van half on the footpath and half on the road!! Coming out of toll booths was interesting - pedal to the metal and hope that you beat the vehicle next to you to the lanes! Our accommodation for the first part of the tour was a continuation of our team building. Fenced behind barbed wire, we were placed into bunkrooms - one set of bunks and a double bed. A shower and toilet and that was our accommodation. Sounds luxurious? Try fitting four adults into one room, as well as all our baggage. No hot water in the showers, no laundry facilities, no TV, no internet connections, no radio and no English speaking people in the complex! The extent of our Spanish was "Ola" ("hello") - but in typical kiwi fashion we managed to communicate and our week was enjoyable.

The week in Argentina saw the team play in a tournament against South Africa, Argentina and the Argentinean development team. This was the first time that Argentina had held a tournament such as this and it was with great pleasure that the White Sox took home the winners trophy, the trophy for Top Pitcher, Top Batter and MVP! A great start to our build up for the World Series.

Week two and off to Venezuela we flew. As soon as we landed in Caracas we were met by our security team. We had three national guards with us at all times of which two lived on our floor at the motel while we were there. After being guided through customs and collecting our bags we were met by the locals - a lot of locals and TV cameras! We were welcomed with traditional Venezuelan dancers and music. After TV interviews were conducted with the Coach and the Captain we reciprocated the welcome with a song. Unbeknown to us this was on live television and is now on You Tube! Onto our bus and our introduction to "full time security". We had our own dedicated bus with four national armed national guardsmen on motorbikes and two traffic police on motorbikes as well. Into the city we went with sirens going, traffic being moved out of the way - Kiwis were in town!

The 12th International Women's Softball World Championship Tournament was definitely an experience I will ever forget. There were two purpose built stadiums created just for the World Championships. Nothing was left out - air conditioning changing rooms with built in flat screen TVs, massage rooms, dugouts big enough to have a party in! The Venezuelans certainly know how to run a tournament. The welcoming ceremony was like attending the Olympics. Singers, dancers, country march-past parade and the official opening by the President of Venezuela - Hugo Chavez. Then straight into the tournament with the opening game. Our tournament consisted of games against Botswana, USA, Australia, Czech Republic, China, Dominican Republic and the host nation Venezuela. We had a couple of wins and some close games but the highlight of the tournament for me would be playing the host nation.

There were thousands of people in the stadium, live band in between innings, electric atmosphere and noise that would have equalled the football! Unfortunately, we were not the winners on the night but the atmosphere was something I have never experienced before and probably never will! We could not hear each other in our own dug out. Our assistant coach was Roman Gabriel who has played for the Black Sox and was part of the winning team who won the World Championships in Christchurch. He said that the atmosphere when we played Venezuela was better than when the Black Sox won the World Championships and he was jealous that he could not play in such a game. Unfortunately, NZ Women's softball is not as strong as what it has been in the past and we finished the tournament in 12th position. The tournament winners were the USA who beat Japan in the final. Third place went to Canada. These three teams were very well drilled, very passionate about their sport and were streaks ahead of the majority of the teams in the tournament.

I have been very lucky to say that I have been able to represent NZ at such a tournament. It would not have been possible with the support and assistance of my unit, the Burnham Admin Centre, the CO and members of 3 Log Bn, and members of 3rd Land Force Group who assisted in my fundraising and ate a lot of sausages and oysters! A big thank you to Ngai Tahu Fisheries in Bluff for their assistance. Selling Bluff Oysters was a part of my fundraising, so getting support from my home town was immense. Also a big thank you to my Army Softball and Army Rugby League families, Army Sports and the Singapore Fund. Without the support of Ngati Tumatauenga I would not have been able to represent NZ or NZDF with pride. So once again, thank you very much.

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