After a successful first season in the minor leagues, Maori ballplayers Boss and Moko Moanaroa come home to teach the game to young people.

Auckland—Two brothers whose family originally hails from New Zealand recently spent a week in Auckland and the Hamilton region, teaching school children about their bright career prospects and how to play the game that might make them wealthy and famous beyond their wildest dreams.

Australian-raised Maori brothers Boss and Moko Moanaroa travelled with their father Joe to visit family and a handful of schools in the Hamilton area to teach the game of baseball to hundreds of eager children, who learned the basics of baseball, a game that the brothers learned to play on Australian diamonds over the past 15 years.

The brothers put on hitting and fielding displays at each school and answered questions about proper nutrition and their daily schedule when playing baseball. Boss, 18, and Moko, 19, were both signed by Australian coach and Red Sox scout Jon Deeble after being spotted playing baseball on the NSW State Baseball Schools team during the Australian Schools Championship.

Boss and Moko, who were both world-ranked BMX bike racers, also played football, softball and soccer during their youth. However, their athletic prowess shone brightly when they decided to put an emphasis on baseball, according to their proud father, Joe, who added that Moko played in the inaugural Israel baseball league when he was only 17 and was named to the league’s all star team the very same year.

During the family’s one-day visit to Auckland, they stopped by Lloyd Elsmore Park and the Howick Pakuranga baseball club’s fields where Boss—with borrowed baseball pants and gear—suited up and joined the HP’s number one team for a game against visiting Japanese players from IPC University in Palmerston North. Boss went on to score the winning run on a tight play at the plate, and the family said they’ll be back to New Zealand in the near future to spread the game of baseball from one end of the island to the other.

Contact: Ryan Flynn 021 665 339
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