A sporting allrounder

Representing your province at senior level in any one sport is quite an achievement – to do so in three is outstanding.

Especially when those three are all mainstream sports and the representation spans a quarter of a century.

Jody Klempel is a remarkable sportswoman, having worn Marlborough colours in rugby, cricket and softball.

After spending her formative years dabbling with ballet, jazz and tap dance she decided step away from the arts and branch out into sport.

Her first stop was rugby and in 1998 she laced up her boots for a combined Woodbourne/Central/Renwick women’s team put together by former Black Ferns prop Tracey Marshall.

She quickly showed an aptitude for the game and relished its physical nature, switching to the Moutere club in 1999 where she remained until 2004.

When a Marlborough women’s team [The Red Devilettes] was formed, under the coaching expertise of the late John Taylor and Garth Huntley, Jody was chosen as a flanker and played rep rugby in the red jersey from 2001 until 2004, missing just the 2002 season with pregnancy.

Family commitments saw her step away from the rugby scene for the following two decades, although she kept her hand in through coaching a variety of kids’ sports – including rugby, touch and hockey.

Then a trip with partner Corey to a Black Caps game in Nelson in 2022 sparked an interest in the complexities of that game and when she spotted an ad in a community booklet looking for players to form a social sixes women’s cricket side she could not resist joining up.

Although a self-confessed cricketing rookie, she soon realised her hand/eye co-ordination enabled her to adapt and enjoy the challenge, especially the batting side of things.

Soon she was playing hard ball cricket and on the radar of the women’s rep selectors Wade Cornelius and Jarrod Englefield, eventually debuting for the reps in February 2022 in Cheviot and going on to make several more rep appearances until the end of last season.

Always one for a new challenge, at the start of the 2025-26 summer season Jody decided to change tack again and give softball a go.

She joined the Wairau Manawa team in the local women’s competition and once again quickly made her way up the ranks. She trialled and was named in the women’s rep side which contested the Seddon Shield tournament in Blenheim, then was re-selected for the representative side which recently took part in the national Heartland competition on Palmerston North.

A centre outfielder and handy batter, Jody has quickly embraced the softball culture.

“I actually love the game,” she suggested, “and sometimes I wish I had taken it up earlier.”

However, the 47-year-old says all of the sports she has played have something in common, something that has drawn her to them and made them so enjoyable to be a part of.

“It is all about the team,” she says, “getting out there with your team mates, having a few laughs, being competitive, the team bonding is great, there is definitely no “I” in team.

“You can always learn off others when you are in a team and you can be motivated by others as well.

“It was a big eye-opener going up to the Heartland [softball tournament] because I am reasonably new to the game, just watching the different styles, different theories, the friendliness. You just ask questions and learn, something you don’t always get in individual sports.

“If you don’t perform you are letting your team down, so I find you push harder for your team mates – plus you make some wonderful friendships along the way.”

On the rugby front she mentions Tracey [Marshall] and Sandy [Large] “two inspirational sportswomen” as having a big influence on her time playing that sport, recalls cricket’s Eden Pettigrew being, “very motivational and kind”, then had high praise for Myrna Joseph and Wiri Bristowe on the rep softball scene.

After 25 plus years of representative sport Jody is not about to switch codes once again, despite the urging of Corey who cheekily suggested she had better look at lawn bowls next.

“I would like to see how far I can get at softball to be honest,” she added. “I’d like to make the most of the sport … I have recently given up smoking so I am going to be fitter than ever … there’s plenty more to come,” she added with a grin.