Kiwi Rhonda Hira, WBSC Softball Hall of Famer, to suit back up at 55

Kiwi Rhonda Hira, WBSC Softball Hall of Famer, to suit back up at 55
25/11/2020
The former third baseman will play for the Kaiapoi Queens in New Zealand's innovative Fastball 45 tournament in Christchurch this weekend.

Rhonda Hira, who played for New Zealand at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, will be back on the field this weekend in Christchurch to play the second stage of Fastball 45 tournament, a new softball format created in the country. Hira, 55, will play for the Kaiapoi Queens.

Hira said she was attracted to the Fastball 45 format because it was "only four innings, or 45 minutes, and there's plenty of squeeze plays,” Hira told Stuff.com.

"I quite like the [Fastball] format, it looks very exciting, so that was another trigger for me.

Hira, the most capped women’s softball player in New Zealand national team history with 107 games, was the top position player on the 2000 New Zealand team that placed sixth in the Olympics. She hit .375 in six games played. She made her debut with New Zealand National Softball Team in 1983, and represented the 'White Sox' in five world championships, winning a bronze medal at her first tournament in 1986, and silver in 1990.

"I'm still very active. I'm not one of those 55-year-olds, who gave up playing and sat on her a** and ate pizza.''

The Olympian was inducted into the WBSC Softball Hall of Fame in 2009, along with another New Zealand Softball legend and current New Zealand men's coach, Mark Sorenson.