Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
RUNNING IT OUT – Cereal Killers baserunner Jeston Innes, left, reaches on an error during first inning action last night while Pepsi Seniors first baseman Leo Chasse looks for the ball on a relay from pitcher Bernie Heffner, right, during Whitehorse Co-Ed Slo-Pitch League Div. 4A action at the Takhini 3 diamond. The Cereal Killers won 20-4.
A record number of co-ed slo-pitch teams will take to the city’s diamonds this summer.
A record number of co-ed slo-pitch teams will take to the city’s diamonds this summer.
The Whitehorse Co-Ed Slo-Pitch League kicked off its season this week with the most teams in history – for a total of 870 players.
“It’s the largest number of teams since I’ve been involved,” league president Melanie Brais said.
“It’s fun. I think more people are interested in getting out and doing things together as a group.
“It’s fabulous. We have a lot of new teams this year,” she added, noting the Canadian Filipino Association of the Yukon is one of the newcoming squads in Div. 4B.
Div. 4 boasts the highest number of teams at 21, while Div. 2 and 3 will dress 15 and 16 clubs, respectively. Div. 1 features the usual six teams.
“I’m really excited. It’s going to be an amazing year,” Brais said of the increase in participation, noting the league has nearly the same amount of teams as its counterpart in Red Deer, Alta., a city of 90,000.
The Whitehorse co-ed league was founded nearly 40 years ago with a number of local banks and businesses dressing teams, said league secretary Meghan Stonehouse.
“After that, the league started growing and became larger and larger over the years,” she said. “(This year) is a record number of teams for us.”
Last summer, the league fielded 51 teams. In 2013, 44 teams registered.
While this season has greater significance with the national slo-pitch championships on the horizon, Brais said the increase in numbers isn’t co-related.
“We knew that there was going to be a large amount of teams this year before it was even announced that we were getting nationals,” she said.
Softball Yukon will host the 2016 Senior Men’s and Women’s Canadian Slo-Pitch Championships.
A local qualifying tournament will take place June 19 to 21 this year.
The co-ed league isn’t the only one seeing a boost in numbers.
The Whitehorse Minor Softball League also received an influx of players for this season, said organizer Jean Poulin.
“There was an increase for sure,” she said yesterday. “It was substantial, percentage-wise.
“I think there’s just more kids in those age groups.”
Each of the U6, U8, U10, U12 and U14 divisions consist of four teams, while the U16 category will field two squads.
The U12 and U14 divisions will host the territorial championships in Whitehorse June 12 to 14.
In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.
Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.
Be the first to comment