Kere Johanson is a New Zealand men's

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

player and coach. He coaches the Australia women's national softball team.

Personal

Johanson, a native New Zealander, resides in

Joondalup, Western Australia Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth central business district, Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primar ...

Softball

Playing

Johanson started playing softball in New Zealand during the 1970s, and played in the infield. Johanson has played on the

New Zealand men's national softball team The New Zealand men's national softball team (nicknamed the Black Sox/Black Socks) is the national softball team for New Zealand. They have won the ISF Men's World Championship seven times, becoming World Champions in 1976 (1st = with US and Cana ...

, and represented them at several world championships including the 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000 championships. His New Zealand team won the Championships in 1996 and 2000, and finished second in 1988 and 1992. In 2005, he was inducted into the

Softball New Zealand Softball New Zealand, formerly known as the New Zealand Softball Association, is the governing body for the sport of softball in New Zealand. Softball New Zealand consists of a number of regional associations and local clubs. History On 11 Janu ...

Hall of Fame. In 2002, he was playing club softball for the Western Australian side, Stirling Central. He was with the team when they competed at Australia's national club championships.

Coaching

Johanson is the coach of the Australia women's national softball team. Previously, he had been an assistant coach on the team, including during their

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

appearance. He was named the head coach in 2007 for the University Games teams. He was officially named the head coach of the team in 2011 and will coach for the team that will compete at the 2012

ISF Women's World Championship The Women's Softball World Cup is a fastpitch softball tournament for women's national teams held historically every four years, now every two years, by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). The tournament, originally known as the ''I ...

. His belief as a coach is there is little difference in preparing for a world championship and an Olympic Games. He also believes in an approach that considers on and off field behaviour when it comes to team selection. He coached the team to victory in a January 2012 three-game test series at the Hawker International Softball Centre in Canberra against New Zealand, where the team won 11–4 and 8–0 in two of the games. He was using this series to help evaluate players in the lead-up to the World Championships and for future player development for the 2014 World Cup. Johanson has also coached the Australia men's national softball team, coaching the side at the 2009 World Championships. Johanson was appointed the head coach of the Western Australian representative team in 2002 and was affiliated with the

Western Australian Institute of Sport The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1983 by the Government of Western Australia to support athletes in Western Australia. The founding director was Wally Foreman who held the position for 17 ye ...

in this role until 2009. He coached the team to wins at the 2009 and 2010

Gilleys Shield The Gilleys Shield is a trophy symbolising the Open Women's Championship of the Softball Australia organisation (formerly known as the Australian Softball Federation). The competition's full name is the Mack Gilley Shield. History In 1947, Qu ...

. In 2009, he was appointed a high-performance softball manager by the Western Australian Department of Sport and Recreation while being based out Softball Western Australia. He continued on in this role in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johanson, Kere New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand softball players New Zealand sports coaches Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Male softball players Western Australian Institute of Sport alumni