Southern ball club tries to steal a base from Rosedale

North Harbour's softball venue is the envy of Auckland. Candice Reed uncovers a surprise move south of the bridge
The pitch to become Auckland's best softball park is on. North Harbour's Rosedale Park is on first base but Howick ballplayers are stepping up to the plate with a bid for major upgrades to Meadowlands Reserve. This week, Howick (Fencibles) Softball Club president Gus Wiltenburg asked his suburb's community board for $50,057 to install four dugouts. The club wants skin diamonds, bleachers, a scorers' box and generator. Rosedale Park - which hosts all national and international events ahead of the sports ageing, official headquarters at Norana Park, Mangere - has those facilities. It also has clubrooms, an umpires' room, male and female changing rooms and executive parking. Norana Park faces an unknown future. Long past its glory days, the rundown venue needs major investment to reclaim first-class status. Now there is a push within Auckland softball to sell its diamonds and move to a new home base. The game's stakeholders will vote on August 24. If they say "sell", well over $1 million would be invested in a trust to foster the game's future. Rosedale would become the region's premier ballpark. North Harbour is a stronghold of the summer game, in which New Zealand's Black Sox have a mortgage on the World Championship. From October to April, there are active clubs including Albany- Paremoremo, Birkdale Falcons, East Coast Bays United, Glenfield, Hibiscus Coast Sharks, Navy, Northcote Roosters and Birkenhead Tigers. Their fans and supporters will be surprised at Howick's late attempt to steal a base. Wiltenburg says it is pressing that his council invests in Meadowlands to develop younger players, like 14-year-old Stuart Reynolds who was last year's under-15 Auckland captain, and the future of New Zealand softball. Howick is one of the biggest clubs south of the bridge. It fielded 25 teams last season. Teams range from under-6 tee-ball to premier men and women. There are 360 playing and 430 non-playing members. Pakuranga's club also played home games at Meadowlands last season and local schools hold competitions there. Under-15 and -17 representative tournaments featuring North Harbour, Auckland, Waikato and Counties teams were also hosted in Howick. "Each year, there are big tournaments being held in Auckland, it's just a question of where they'll be held," Wiltenburg says. "Rosedale is a top-class venue that does host international events. Our plans and hopes are that our club will become an option in the future for these events too."