Softball
Wairarapa College head boy Michael McDermott won't need any introduction to the head coaches when he arrives in Canada next week to spend three weeks there as part of the International Softball Academy.
McDermott, 17, has been selected by the Masterton-based Giants club to join 14 other Kiwis, all under the age of 21, for a programme which will involve three weeks of intensive tutelage and tournament play under the supervision of two former Giants players, Mark Quinn and Ritchie Clarke, both of whom live in Canada these days.
It was, in fact, teacher Quinn who introduced McDermott to softball when he was a pupil at Masterton Intermediate six years ago. Quinn and Clarke were integral members of Giants premier men's side at the time McDermott first donned their colours as well.
"Mark and Ritchie have played a big part in my softball development and it's great to think I'll be meeting up with them again," McDermott said yesterday. "They both have so much to offer, I can't wait to get into it."