Taking her White Sox to the top

Love softball: New Zealand junior women's White Sox manager Aroha Metcalf, pictured scoring last Sunday's match between the Marlborough and Nelson senior representative women's teams at A&P Park in Blenheim.

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Aroha Metcalf may not be playing but she's just as proud to be wearing the Silver Fern and representing her country at softball.

Aroha is manager of the junior White Sox women's softball team contesting the World Series under-19 championships in Cape Town, South Africa, later this month. The team has warm-up matches in Sydney on the way.

She's had previous experience managing the New Zealand under-16 team in 2008 and has been involved in the planning of this World Series campaign since.

Aroha is one of six support staff for the 17-player squad. Her role as manager is extensive, encompassing a wide variety of jobs.

"It's a huge job. Key communicator and planner. I've been the project manager for three years and my job is to get the squad there and back safely and do the job."

The team is self funded, meaning each player must raise $5700 to make the trip and Aroha liaises with their families to assist and to co-ordinate fundraising.

Part of that fundraising campaign includes a cook book produced with the help of several prominent New Zealanders, including Prime Minister John Key contributing recipes, as well as the entire New Zealand under-19 team and their support staff.

Organising the upcoming campaign includes security in a volatile place like South Africa, especially with such a young age group.

The New Zealand team will have 24-hour security with them.

Arranging transport, uniforms for on and off the field, keeping track of player payments and fundraising are all part of Aroha's extensive job description.

The bulk of the New Zealand team are 17 or 18 plus two 16-year-olds. Three players are based in Australia, three in the United States and the rest are mainly based in Auckland.

Accompanying the team is a support party of about 25 people including parents and Aroha's husband, softball coach and umpire, Glen Metcalf.

The trip is a major highlight so far for Aroha, who has enjoyed a virtual lifetime involvement in softball since her playing days growing up in the southern Christchurch suburb of Halswell.

It's there she met Glen, while he was playing rugby league for Halswell. She played netball for the same club.

The couple and their two sons, Marcus and Nathan, moved to Blenheim eight years ago and with Glen coaching and umpiring and Aroha also a regular scorer and manager at A&P Park, the couple are almost a one-stop softball shop.

They rekindled the Renwick Softball Club, fielding men's and women's teams in senior grade but after a couple of successful years, players moving away from the district and a lack of numbers coming through meant it went into recess.

Although Aroha and Glen live at Renwick, she works fulltime in Wellington for the Ministry of Health as a District Health Board development manager, a job which equips her well to manage the junior White Sox.

Aroha's appointment as junior White Sox manager will soon see her inducted onto the roll of honour for Marlborough sport.

- The Marlborough Express

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