Hongi

This past 4th of July weekend I was invited to shoot the prestigious World Fastball Invitational in Monkton, Ontario, Canada. I can’t begin to express all the thoughts that come to mind when I think of this past weekend and how fortunate I am to be involved in such a great sport that attracts such great people. Our gracious hosts Brian Baillie, Kevin Quipp and Sandra Machlan who made my job that much easier by providing everything and anything I needed; the people of Monkton whose hundreds of volunteers make this one of the best-run events I have ever seen; the caliber of players and umpires that come to this tournament and the locale of this wonderful tournament made this a most memorable experience for me. Which brings me to something I learned this weekend, called the “Hongi”; the Hongi is a traditional Maori greeting which is done by pressing one’s nose to the other person when they meet each other. It is believed that when the two noses meet, people exchange their breath and the visitor becomes one of their tribe. I had the privilege to watch a “Hongi” in person as the New Zealand team honored one of their own Paul Walford at the tournament. It dawned on me then how much of this we already do as part of the fastpitch community. No, we do not touch noses, but instead we share in the experience called “fastpitch” and as such become part of the “tribe”. I am far from being a player but I’d like to think that through my photography I have joined the fastpitch tribe and through the images I capture I hopefully bring the “tribes” closer together. You can see the photos of the World Fastball Invitational here.