聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 It鈥檚 an exciting weekend for 12-year-old Erica Wilson of Carlyle, daughter of Jeremy and Sonia Wilson, as she attends a High Performance softball tournament in Surrey, B.C. with the 14U Team Saskatchewan 鈥� 麻豆视频.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The White Rock Renegades Ice Breaker Tournament is being held April 1-3. There are a total of 13 teams attending which includes two teams from Saskatchewan, one based in Saskatoon and one based in Regina.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Erica has always enjoyed ball, and has been playing since she was five-years-old starting out in the Learn to Play category with the Carlyle Cougars. She has been playing ever since and has also enjoyed playing provincial ball with the 麻豆视频east Squirts, which has been made up of youth from Alameda, Redvers, and Carlyle in the past.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 really like back catching and playing with friends,鈥� Erica says of the sport.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It was through a friend that Erica found out about the try-outs for the High Performance team and from there was encouraged to try-out.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here were like 50 kids out for the [14U] try-outs,鈥� Erica remembers. Nervous and excited at each of the try-outs, Erica settled into the atmosphere and did her best.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淥riginally they were planning to do one 16U and one 14U team, but they ended up deciding to take a North and 麻豆视频 for both age groups,鈥� Sonia explained.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 There were two rounds of tryouts, one held in Regina and the other in Saskatoon, which is when it was decided they would put two teams into the competition a Team Sask 鈥� North and a Team Sask 鈥� 麻豆视频.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 During tryouts it was nerve-wracking as people with clip boards timed how fast each girl could throw, hit, and run.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淵ou only had one chance to do it,鈥� Erica explained as to why she was quite nervous at first.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The first cuts were made that day and all subsequent cuts were made through a website which listed those that were still being considered. When the team roster was finalized a link to the website was emailed to each prospective player and the girls checked to see whether they had made it or not.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 was nervous at first,鈥� Erica explained. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 sure if I made it or not.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Upon discovering her name on the list, Erica says she was extremely excited and has been enjoying and learning a lot from practicing with the team under the guidance of Nicole Verot 鈥� the Head Coach 鈥� and Heather Dzioba 鈥� the assistant coach 鈥� as well as other trainers who have worked with the team. Team Sask 鈥� 麻豆视频 took a total of 14 girls with eight from Regina, two from Moose Jaw, two from Lumsden, one from Ogema, and Erica from Carlyle.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Practices were held in Regina over the winter and Sonia has seen Erica鈥檚 confidence improved as a result of Verot鈥檚 guidance.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭o me it鈥檚 been worth every penny, Nicole has really taught them confidence,鈥� Sonia explained. 鈥淪he鈥檚 told them if they make a mistake that they have three seconds to admit they made a mistake, see how to fix it, and forget about it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Erica is participating as a back catcher and has been learning about becoming slapper when at bat.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t takes me three seconds to run to first base, so if I hit left-handed I鈥檓 closer and can be faster getting there,鈥� Erica explained.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A slapper hits left and runs through the box as they make contact with the ball, thus the hitter is not only closer to first but it is already in motion to pick up speed as they hit. This keeps the defense alive as they need to respond to whether the hitter is bunting, slapping, or power hitting.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Erica is now very excited to be at the competition.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The bus left Regina on March 30 and the girls will have the opportunity to use the batting cages on March 31st in Surrey to prepare, while they will have some time on Friday, April 1, to practice on the diamonds before the competition begins.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Check back with The Observer in coming weeks to see how the tournament went.
