Softball first, then Padres

Don Tricker has delayed his departure to the San Diego Padres to honour a commitment to softball his first sporting love.

The former Black Sox player and coach made it clear to the Major League Baseball club he couldn’t come to California to be their director of player health and development until after he had coached daughter Georgia’s Wellington under-19 softball team at the national championships in early January.

‘‘I told the Padres I made a commitment to these young ladies and was not going to let them down. They’ve been very understanding. It’s my daughter’s last year [in under-19 softball], and I don’t think she’d have been impressed if I pulled out.’’

From a pioneering softball family - his grandfather Buck Laws was a leading umpire - Tricker played for the Black Sox at the 1988 world championships and, as player-coach, guided PonekeKilbirnie to two national interclub titles.

That earned him the job as Black Sox coach and his innovative, analytical approach led them to gold medals at the 2000 and 2004 world championships.

He said he ‘‘wouldn’t have got the jobs I’ve got’’ [with New Zealand Rugby and the Padres] without ‘‘getting to work with an incredibly talented team of young men’’ at the Black Sox, but he did not think his softball background would be a great advantage in San Diego.

‘‘It’ll be like when I started in rugby.

‘‘I had an awareness of the sport, but didn’t have any technical expertise, but that allowed me to think differently and say things differently.

‘‘It’s the same with baseball, I have an awareness of the sport, but I am no technical expert,’’ Tricker said.

He said softball and baseball were ‘‘very similar to rugby and rugby league’’. ‘‘From the outside, they look pretty much the same, but there are significant differences in how you go about things.’’

Tricker hoped there would be a chance for Softball New Zealand to ‘‘leverage off’’ the Padres.