Volunteers have been preparing for the softball competition at the Estevan 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games for well over a year, but all hands will need to be on deck when the players hit the field at Pleasantdale Softball Park on July 27 to 30 to ensure the tournament is a success.
The Summer Games softball competition will see nine district teams, including the local South East squad, descend on the Pleasantdale softball diamonds for one day of practice on July 27 before the clubs are split into two pools for round-robin competition on July 28 and 29. The top two teams from each pool then advance to the medal round that will be played on July 30.
Wade Wrubleski, local sport representative and head groundskeeper for the competition, said the practice day will be light for the softball volunteer crew, but the pace will pick up at the diamonds considerably the first morning of the round-robin competition. He said two diamonds will be in use at all times from 8 a.m. to dusk on July 28 and 29 with another four games scheduled for the medal round.
Wrubleski said he will need 15 to 20 volunteers for the grounds-keeping crew, another 20 to 30 for the canteen and a further eight to 10 to be scorekeepers. He said overall they could use anywhere from 50 to 100 people signing up to help with the softball competition, so nobody is overworked and everyone has a chance to relax and enjoy the sport.
Each of the nine competing teams will be comprised of the best players in the district who were born in 2002 or 2003. The South East team is holding tryouts on May 14 in Weyburn and May 21 in Redvers. Interested players are asked to contact head coach Jody Waloshin at [email protected] before trying out.
“This is a province-wide tournament and it’s basically an all-star team from every zone, so there is going to be a lot of girls trying out,” said Wrubleski. “Only 14 will make each team, so I think this is going to be as good as you’re going to get for girls softball.”
