Sorenson back fas coach of Black Sox
Mark Sorenson has been reappointed Black Sox coach with Softball New Zealand convinced he has the ‘‘hunger and desire’’ to atone for the team’s world championship failure.
Sorenson – confirmed as coach through to the
2021 world tournament in Auckland — stressed he was ‘‘really excited and determined’’ to rebuild the Black Sox’s fortunes after a disappointing fourth place at the world championship in Prague in June.
While Sorenson – who has won four world titles as a player and another as a coach – was the only formal applicant, Softball New Zealand chief executive Tony Giles said he was still subjected to ‘‘a really robust review’’ before his reappointment was ratified.
The Black Sox slumped to their worst world championship result in 39 years, failing to win a medal for the first time since 1980. They went to Prague as defending champions, having won a record seventh title in 2017. Sorenson – first appointed in 2013 – said he was still ‘‘hurting’’ at that result and felt a responsibility to ‘‘put things right’’ in 2021.
‘‘I’m really excited by the challenge that lies ahead. We’ve got a lot of rebuilding on our hands, but we’ve got some young talent who will now fancy their chances of being part of the next group.’’
Sorenson plans to meet all the players from the Prague squad in the next few weeks ‘‘to have a chat about where they see their future and maybe where I see it’’.
He would be spreading the message ‘‘that we have to go to a different level to where we were in Prague’’.