Mark coached the Black Sox to victory in 2017 at the Softball World Championship in Canada and Silver in 2015. Following the 2017 win, Mark was awarded World Coach of the Year by the World Baseball Softball Council.

He was the captain of the New Zealand Men’s Softball Team, the Black Sox, from 1989 until the beginning of 2001 and led his team to victory at the world championships in 1996 and 2000. He returned to the team in 2004 when they became the first team ever to win three consecutive Softball World Championships.

Mark has been selected 12 times to the ‘All World Team’ by the International Softball Congress, which was a world record. He was selected six times consecutively to the ‘All American Team’ at the USA Nationals and voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player twice.

To cap his successful sporting career, Mark recently claimed the No 51 spot in the book, NZ’s 100 Top History Makers in Sport. In his career that spanned 20 years, he’s played over 300 games with a lifetime ISF Batting average .405 with 15 Homeruns in World Championship play 1984 – 2004.

In 2009, he was inducted into both the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame and the International Softball Congress Hall of Fame. At the time he was only the 2nd Kiwi to be inducted into both World bodies. From there he was also inducted into the Wellington Sports Legends (Hall of Fame) in 2014 and the NZ Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

Mark also has the following sports achievements:
• Cardinals Club, Hutt Valley 1973 – 2001
• Hutt valley senior Rep 1983 – 2001
• MVP at NZ National Inter-provincial Championships 5 times
• Top Batter at NZ Club Championships 3 times
Captain Under 19 World Champions 1985
• World Champion 1984, 1996, 2000, 2004 (1996 & 2000 as Captain)
• Hutt Valley Sportsman of the Year 1985
• Wellington Sportsman of the Year 1988, 1996, 2000 (2004 Personality of the Year)
• Awarded the ‘Fair Play’ award at 2001 National Halberg Awards
• Member NZ Order of Merit, Queens service Award for services to Softball and the community 2000

Undoubtedly the best male player that has come out of the Hutt Valley Softball Assn.

Location

Fraser Park, Lower Hutt