Mark Harris (born 29 March 1985) is an Australian IT administrator, athlete and coach who played softball for the Australian Steelers

fastpitch softball Fastpitch softball, also known as fastpitch or fastball, is a form of softball played by both women and men. While the teams are most often segregated by sex, coed fast-pitch leagues also exist. Fast pitch is considered the most competitive for ...

team. Harris was first selected by the Steelers in 2010 to play in a Tri-Series against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

at Hawker Park, ACT. Harris played in the 2013 and 2015 World Series Fastpitch Team with the Steelers

Personal

Harris was born on 29 March 1985 in

Derby, Western Australia Derby ( ) is a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. At the 2016 census, Derby had a population of 3,325 with 47.2% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent. Along with Broome and Kununurra, it is one of only three towns i ...

. Soon after his birth, the Harris family moved to Perth. Harris attended

Sevenoaks Senior College Sevenoaks Senior College is a comprehensive public co-educational high day school, located in Cannington, southeast of Perth, Western Australia, close to the Cannington railway station. Opened in 2001, the school is a senior secondary campus ...

. In 2003, he started attending

Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Parliaments of the Australian states and territories, Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Aust ...

, where he studied

Sports Science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

. After university, In 2009, Harris moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. He is currently working as an IT Projects Administrator for the

West Coast Eagles Football Club The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...

in Perth In 2015 Harris announced his engagement to Leah Brenton in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Softball

Harris has played

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

and occasionally

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. Harris originally started in softball as an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

and then coach, with over 350 games experience. He started playing the sport at the age of 17. In 2003 and 2009, he suffered shoulder injuries that took him out of play, but he recovered from them.

Steelers appearances

*2010 - Tri-Series, ACT Canberra - New Zealand, Argentina *2011 - Friendship Series, Argentina *2012 - 2013 World Series Qualifiers, ACT Canberra -

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, PNG *2013 - World Series,

Auckland New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

/ Trans-Tasman Series, Auckland New Zealand - New Zealand vs Australia *2014 - 2015 World Series Qualifiers, Auckland New Zealand - Samoa, New Zealand *2015 - World Series,

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Canada

Western Blaze appearances

*2005 -

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

*2006 -

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

*2007 - Sydney *2008 - *2009 - *2011 -

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

*2012 - Sydney *2013 -

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

*2014 -

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

*2015 - Brisbane While with the Blaze, Harris won MVP Trophies in 2013 and 2011. He makes appearances behind the dish and also plays Leftfield. In 2014 he made his debut on the pitching rubber which was short lived however, he's since pitched again in 2015 with better results.

Coaching

*2004 - SEMSA Association Junior Head Coach, Perth *2005 - State Under 19's Assistant Coach, Tasmania *2006 - State Under 19's Assistant Coach, Canberra *2010 - State Under 16's Head Coach, in Sydney *2015 - State Under 17's Head Coach, in

*2016 - Appointed as the Under 17's Head Coach, in Perth Harris had previously attained his coaching certifications and has since re-certified as a level 2 coach. Harris has helped develop Softball clinics in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Club & Association level

Harris started his career at Dale Districts Men's Softball Association in which he's won 4 Runner-Up MVP's along with one MVP Trophy. He also played with the Bandits, Rebels, Breakaways, Animals, Bayswater and Western Cobras. Most of his club level softball has been with Bayswater Morley Softball Club. In 2014 Harris was the winner of the Newcrest Softball WA Spirit Award. Over a period of eight years Harris has join Toowoomba Softball Association at the Brisbane State Championships 7 times.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Mark 1985 births Australian softball players Living people Sportspeople from Perth, Western Australia