The Rudy Davalos HSB Sports Club hosted a full house of school rivalries – especially UT and Texas Tech. But it was rivalry among friends in order to welcome the University of Texas national champion softball head coach Mike White.
A native of New Zealand whose softball pitching career brought him to the U.S. and ultimately to UT Austin, Coach White captivated the crowd not only with his “down under” accent, but his good-natured interchange with the crowd of sports enthusiasts.
White explained how softball arrived in New Zealand via the U.S. Navy in the 1930s and captured the imagination of young people who wanted to swing at the ball three times rather than just once, as in cricket. From the 1970s into the 1980s, as many as 70 New Zealand fast pitch softball pitchers came to the U.S. to play, especially on the West Coast.
