Unexpected honour for coach Nixon

His selection as coach of the Hutt Valley premier men's softball team to contest the national provincial championships from January 9 to 13 came as an unexpected honour for Giants mentor Tony Nixon.
Hutt Valley have long been considered one of the top softballing provinces in the country and while Nixon admits to a hankering to coach their premier side he wasn't anticipating it happening this season.
And even when he was asked if he would accept the position it took some strong words of support from wife Jill for him to reply in a positive vein.
"I wasn't too sure what to do but Jill was very encouraging about having a crack at it and I guess she talked me into it," Nixon said.
That Nixon, whose own softballing career has included successful stints as a pitcher in the United States and Canada as well as New Zealand, is ready for the challenge of coaching Hutt Valley cannot be questioned.
His three seasons at the helm with Giants has seen them win the highly-competitive Hutt Valley premier men's league competition for the first time ever and also compete with distinction in the Intercity series, which involves the premier clubs from both Hutt Valley and Wellington.
Nixon will have his Giants manager, Bryan Hourigan, fill the same role for Hut Valley but just who will make up the NPC playing squad will probably not be finalised for a few weeks yet. However, Nixon agrees the superb early-season form shown by Giants could well see them strongly represented there.
"There are quite a few Giants players who would have to be in the reckoning, for them it's all about maintaining consistency between now and when the side is selected," he said.
Four Giants club members have already made Hutt Valley age group sides for their forthcoming national championships. Danny Brown and Campbell Gaunt are in the under-15s, Ashton Shannhan in the under-17s and Nathan Shannahan in the under-19s.