There has been a changing of the guard at Otago softball but the sport will continue with the season set to begin next month.
Otago Softball Association development manager Jill Johnson has stepped down from the role and Michael Coutts has taken over the position, beginning yesterday.
Coutts (29) is originally from Gisborne, where he excelled at a national level in athletics and surf life-saving.
He came to Dunedin to study physical education and has just spent the past three years teaching in England.
He was also a skeleton racer and represented New Zealand around the world for nine years. Despite being in a sport in which speeds got up to 140kmh he never broke a bone while tearing down the track.
But it is now time to put the sled away and get into something else for Coutts.
''Getting into sports administration had always been a goal and I've always really enjoyed being part of a team sport,'' he said.
Although he has never played softball to a serious level - playing around at school was his only involvement - he said the issues in the sport were familiar to most sports.
''It's just about trying to get the player numbers up or even stay the same. Just about growing the game. Getting those who are playing in a young age-group to keep playing and continuing into an older age-group.
''There are so many more options for people to do out there now.''
Coutts said he was excited to take up the job and looking forward to the challenge and meeting people associated with softball in Otago.
Johnson (67) first got into the sport when her youngest son, Ryan, took up the sport when he was at primary school.
She had stayed involved ever since and had been in her present role for about 10 years.
''The numbers fluctuates in playing from year to year but in the long run it is probably declining. There is so much more to do now. Things like futsal and touch.
''That's not a bad thing, I suppose. It's good for children to have a crack at a lot of things and when they get to 13-14 they can decide what they want to do.''
She said softball was a sport which had a great feeling around it.
"Softball to me is a game where you can make a mistake but no-one will go mad at you. People just pat you on your back and say forget it and you can fix it next time. There is a really supportive community around the game.''
She said getting dedicated rooms at Ellis Park for softball earlier this year was a real bonus.
Before that the sport in Dunedin had no real clubrooms and had been played at various grounds around the city.
With the help of the Dunedin City Council, two old prefab buildings, once used by the Highlanders and Otago at Logan Park, had been shifted to Ellis Park.
