Softball New Zealand’s Golden Partnership

Thursday, 29th August, 2019: Leading New Zealand building company, Golden Homes, has been sponsoring Softball NZ (SNZ) to help build world champions since 2014. From the world-beating Golden Homes Black Sox through to the grassroots of the game, over 30,000 players around the country have directly benefited from their partnership - which has become a model for sports sponsorship everywhere.

The best aspects of the sport will be on show in Christchurch this Saturday, 31 August, at the Softball NZ Annual Awards. Players and officials across all levels of the organisation will be honoured. It’s a chance to acknowledge the success of the major teams - the Golden Homes Black Sox gave up their international crown with a fourth placing in the World Series in June, while the White Sox are heading to Beijing next month for the Olympics qualifying tournament.

The awards ceremony is also a chance to recognise the work that goes on at a community level with awards presented for ‘Volunteer of the Year’, ‘Personality of the Year’ and ‘Administrator of the Year’ based on the result of nominations from softball clubs around the country.

The support provided by the team at Golden Homes has enabled Softball NZ to make enormous strides across all areas of this sporting institution. Golden Homes are not only the naming rights partner for the Black Sox, they have also extended their support of emerging talent through partnering with SNZ to establish the Softball New Zealand Centurions Trust - a fund dedicated to backing high achieving male and female U15 & U18 players.

Each year four young players from the Junior White Sox and the Junior Black Sox receive a grant supplied by Golden Homes through the Trust to contribute to their costs of training at this elite level - an invaluable boost to families of these young athletes which enables them to spend less time fundraising and more time on the pitch.

Tony Giles, Softball NZ CEO, says the relationship between SNZ and Golden Homes is not merely a financial transaction.

“We are tremendously grateful to Golden Homes for the incredible support they give to the game,” says Giles.

“While the sponsorship has given an assurance to the Black Sox men’s team, the mentoring provided by Golden Homes has had a hugely beneficial effect on the management of SNZ. As a small business starting out in the 1990s, Golden Homes were the minnows in a competitive industry. The experiences that they gained in transforming Golden Homes into one of New Zealand's leading home-build companies has been an invaluable asset to Softball NZ.”

Giles believes that the synergy between the path to the success of Golden Homes with that of SNZ is what makes their relationship so great.

“We’ve both gone from underdogs to world champs,” he says, adding that the morals and ethics of the Golden Homes family business align closely with that of Softball NZ and its many supporters.

“We are so blessed to have Golden Homes in our softball family, and humbled to be supported by people like the Helms”.

Shane Helms, CEO of Golden Homes echoes the sentiments of SNZ. “We are proud supporters of Softball New Zealand. Working alongside them as they continue to set the benchmark for sporting excellence in New Zealand is fantastic for our team and we are delighted to be a part of their incredible journey.”

About Golden Homes

For the last 30 years, Golden Homes has worked hard to stay one step ahead of the game. They were the first home builders to offer double glazing and steel framing as standard features of their homes, and later they were the first again to make thermally isolated windows standard, too.

And now they're one of New Zealand's leading home build companies. They're as solid as the houses they build. They have licence owners who've been with Golden Homes almost since the start, and supplier relationships that get stronger every year.

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