New Zealand quartet find new home with FSW softball

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FSW Softball

SOUTH FORT MYERS, Fla. Relocating can be difficult, but four members of the Florida Southwestern State College softball team are thriving half a world away from home.

Courtney Gettins, Kayla Rangiahwha, and Mikayla Wereahiko left their home country of New Zealand to play on the inaugural FSW team last year. Mereana Makea arrived at the start of this season.

“It was, ‘You’re here now and you can’t really change it,’ so we just went with it,” Gettins said.

Gettins won 39 games for FSW last season and was named National Pitcher of the Year. She convinced Rangiahwha and Wereahiko to come to the States with her.

“At first, with the whole school and college life, I was not familiar with it,” Wereahiko said. “(But) I was like why not?”

Makea decided to follow her countrywomen to America for the 2016-17 school year. She rooms with Gettins, who is her cousin.

“Now that I’m rooming with Courtney, it’s a bit of trouble,” Makea said with a smile. “Courtney is the trouble. Let’s be honest.”

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