There are not many teams that play Canadian Little League girls' softball. But, for the ones that do, there is a lot on the line.
The three-team Canadian Major Girls' Softball Championship (ages 11 and 12) starts today at Hampton Park. The competing teams are host Hampton, Beacon Hill and Windsor Turtle Club Athletics from Ontario.
"This is a unique situation with three teams playing for a Canadian championship,'' said Hampton coach Curt Waldner. "Most of the girls' teams play under the Softball sa国际传媒 umbrella. In Victoria, Beacon Hill, Layritz and Hampton have all decided to stay with Little League.''
Beacon Hill defeated Layrtiz in a best-of-three series to gain the sa国际传媒 berth into the Canadians.
"Little League has worldwide exposure and we have just stuck with it. It is very competitive in Victoria and we plan on building up our program. In Little League, there is no tiering system so you could get various levels of ability on the same team.''
The winner of the national tournament advances to the World Series, starting on Tuesday in Portland.
In today's opening game, Beacon Hill meets Windsor at 6: 30 p.m. Hampton's first game is Friday, 6: 30 p.m. against Windsor. The semifinal is Sunday at 3 p.m. and the championship game is Monday at 3 p.m.
"Earlier this year, we were asked to host the championship,'' said Waldner. "We jumped at the opportunity. Our team has been together since April and we have six 12-year-olds and five 11s.''
Some of the players to watch for on the Hampton team are Ivorye Parent, Zoe Kinakin, Sophia Kiss, Sierrah Randel and Emma Auston.
"Ivorye comes from a baseball family as her dad was a grad of Hampton Little League. She is very talented. She handles the catching for us and she is our captain. Zoe, Sophia, Sierrah and Emma all played with Softball sa国际传媒 teams this year. You just can't keep those kids off the diamond. Emma is also are No. 1 pitcher.''
The three-team Canadian Junior Girls' Championship (ages 13-14) is also at Hampton, starting on Saturday. The teams competing are host Hampton, Layritz and Windsor. The winner of the championship earns a berth in World Series, which starts Aug. 10 in Kirkland, Washington.
