A softball event involving international competitors is starting up in Saskatoon.
The U14 International Softball Cup involves three local teams, three others from Saskatchewan, and one from New Zealand.
“Look at the future here. Saskatoon has hosted a lot of championships in the past. Those kids in the stands saw those players playing. They’re now going to be on the field playing in an international competition. So that’s a win-win for everybody,” tournament chair Bryan Kosteroski said.
Many of these young players have aspirations of playing for Team Canada one day.
To have a strong softball country like New Zealand in the field is a big deal for these young players and their first taste of international competition.
“As a team from Saskatchewan, getting to experience new competition is exciting, and then having that new competition being from New Zealand is even more exciting. Knowing that it is an elite team coming from there, telling our girls this is your chance. You are going to see how you stack up against some of the best players coming out of New Zealand,” Saskatoon Raiders assistant coach Lara Dutton said.
Teams representing New Zealand are famous for doing the Haka, a traditional Maori war dance.
Something the girls were curious about.
“These girls are going to be young who are performing it. But it still can be a very a visceral thing, even at the younger ages any time I’ve seen it performed. So I’m excited for them to see, because they don’t know, we told them about it but they just don’t know what to expect yet,” Dutton said.
The first game of the tournament is at 6:45 p.m. CT on Aug. 2 at Bob Van Impe Stadium.
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