Annie Scoon: From softball star to community champion

Annie Scoon started playing softball at the age of nine, a path that has now earned her recognition in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours list.

She has been appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to sports and the Pacific community.

For more than 40 years, Scoon has maintained strong connections with the Cook Islands, Pacific, and softball communities in Palmerston North.

“I didn't expect what I got at the end of it because just my actual walk itself has been a challenge to myself in parts,” she says. “But I just didn't realise a lot of people had taken note.”

Since a car accident in 1974, Scoon has been working from a wheelchair, thanks to the encouragement of her students.

After moving to Palmerston North, her daughter urged her to return to coaching.

“To be fair, when I came out of the hospital, I didn't want to have anything to do with softball or anything, because I just couldn't believe that I'd never be able to play softball.

“My oldest daughter wanted to play softball, but there was no coach for them. So she came home and she said, ‘Mum, do you think you could coach us?’ And I said, ‘well, I'm crippled. What am I supposed to do?’ And she said, ‘your mind's not crippled’.”

From that moment, her role expanded to include coaching, mentoring, and administering softball, eventually leading her to become a Life Member of Manawatū Softball.

Scoon and Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere. Photo/Tangi Utikere Facebook

Scoon was introduced to softball after a cooking accident in Auckland when a neighbour invited her to practice.

“A Sāmoan girl, who lived around the corner, said, ‘We're going down to the park, we've got softball practice’, and I said, okay. “So, I trotted off down there, and that was my first week that I played. That was on a Thursday and I played on a Saturday.”

Throughout her sporting career, Scoon competed nationally and internationally in shot put, javelin, discus, and table tennis, achieving national records and a world record as a paraplegic athlete.

But her impact extends beyond sport. She has played a key role in the growth of the Pacific community in Palmerston North, witnessing its transformation from isolated individuals into a thriving, interconnected community.

As Operations Manager of the Papaioea Pasifika Community Trust, Scoon leads the Matua Ola programme, which supports the health and well-being of older Pacific members.

Palmerston North 2024 Civic Honour awards recipients from left in back row, Stephen Parsons, Imtiyaz Bakshi, Guy Donaldson and, front row, Annie Scoon. Photo/Manawatū Softball Association

She emphasises the importance of preserving Pacific languages and cultures, particularly through Cook Islands Language Week and cultural workshops.

"We encourage each other in language preservation. If we don’t speak our reo, we lose it."

Scoon has also made her home a sanctuary for Pacific women seeking support, driven by cultural understanding and empathy. Looking ahead, Scoon expresses confidence in the next generation to continue her life's work.

"I have the most confidence because even the children acknowledge if they don't do something, my mother's language is going to be lost or my mother's, you know, culture is going to be lost.

“We help each other and I said, we bind together, one people, one God. That's it.”