Clare Warwick will never tire of wearing Australian colours, simply because she doesn't know when the next game will come. Perhaps a little bit like softball's presence at the Olympic Games.
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Warwick has been included in the Aussie Spirit squad set to compete in the Asia Pacific Cup at Blacktown International Sportspark from January 31.
The Spirit and Australia A teams will face New Zealand, Italy, Chinese Taipei, China and the world No. 2 ranked defending champions Japan in the major international softball tournament.
It is the national side's first step towards the 2020 Olympic Games with Tokyo set to be the scene of softball's redefined pinnacle after a 12-year hiatus.
For Warwick, a veteran of more than 200 games in green and gold, getting there will mean realising a dream the 31-year-old feared had faded into obscurity.
"It’s definitely my goal. I was very young when softball was last in the Olympics in 2008, I was a reserve for that team," Warwick said.
"I came really close and I was looking for another chance to give it another go, so I’m going to keep playing and hopefully the opportunities keep popping up. It’s 100 per cent my goal, hopefully I get there.
"I thought after 2008 [I had missed the boat], I still enjoyed the sport and I still loved playing, but I didn’t know for sure there would be another opportunity.
"It’s a bonus, I’ve still been playing world championships, and there is a lot going on in the program, but having it back in the Olympics has just been an added bonus for me and the program.
"It automatically becomes the pinnacle of your sport."
Warwick says the incentive of an Olympic Games appearance has opened the door for her to gain the support of ACTAS for strength and conditioning and the like.
Two years ago she may not have had the legs to make it an extra year, but a wave of excitement washing over softball has revitalised the fire within.
The Asia Pacific Cup is the first step in an exciting period for Australia's premier softballers that will see the game burst back onto television screens around the country.
"We’ve got this new initiative that Softball Australia have launched called the Summer Slam, it’s kind of like the Big Bash version of softball," Warwick said.
"It’s an hour-long game with runners on bases, just trying to cram in all the action-packed parts of softball into an hour. That’s all going to be televised, for the first time softball history it’s going to be televised on Fox for a good amount of time. It’s exciting.
"I haven’t ever remembered, not for a long time at least, this much excitement about softball. It’s a good time to be involved."
