KEY POINTS:
The opening round of the national women's softball league in Mangere this weekend will be the final hitout for the White Sox before they leave on Friday for Chinese Taipei and the Olympic qualifying tournament.
The 17-strong White Sox side will travel via Melbourne for six warm-up games before the Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualifier starting on February 1.
The qualifying tournament will be played as a double round robin with the top two sides going on to contest a best-of-three final. Whoever wins the tournament will secure a place at next year's Beijing Olympics.
The tournament is the last chance for the White Sox to qualify for Beijing after they failed to secure a spot in last year's world championships. Next year is the last time women's softball will feature in the Olympics.
Six franchise teams will battle it out today and tomorrow at Norana Park in the opening round of the women's league. In a new format, each team will play one another twice over two weekends of round robin play before the top three finals series in early March. Auckland are the defending champions but have a new coach in Wayne Roper and have lost experienced international players Fiona Timu and Carina Hale.
Hutt Valley and Canterbury look to have the strongest teams with plenty of power on the mound, with the bat and in the field. The final place in the top three will be battled out between Auckland, Central Vikings, Wellington and Southern Pride.
The opening round of the men's league is in Christchurch. With six teams entered and only three positions in the finals available, the round robin competition is expected to be tight.
North Harbour are the defending champions and have a new coach in Graeme Gollan.
Much of the team's success last season was based around Black Sox captain Jarrad Martin and fellow international Brad Rona. Gollan admits it will be the same this season.
Lining up against North Harbour are Auckland, Wellington, Hutt Valley, Canterbury and Southern Pride.
Competition at Norana Park starts at 11am today and 9am tomorrow.
