The 2016 Estevan Saskatchewan Summer Games are starting to get into clearer focus with the beginning of tryouts for teams in the southeast.
The first team to hold a tryout was the South East female soccer team, which invited players aged 13 years and younger to Weyburn Comprehensive School (WCS) on April 10 for their first audition. The club will hold their second and final tryout at WCS on April 24.
This weekend, both the female basketball team and male soccer team will hold tryouts. The basketball team is inviting interested players born Jan. 1, 2002 or later to give their best shot at making the 10-player roster at Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) this Sunday, with the second tryout running at ECS on April 23. The soccer team will feature an 18-man roster filled with the best southeast footballers born on or after Jan. 1, 2003. Interested kids can try out for the team this Sunday at Weyburn Jubilee Park and May 14 at the Balgonie Sportsgrounds.
Matt Weninger, coordinator for Team South East, said each team's coach decides when tryouts are held, with the final roster having to be submitted to Sask Sport Inc. by the beginning of July. He said the individual coaches have the freedom to name their teams as they see fit and schedule practice times according to when it best suits the team.
“Obviously, everybody's club sports, for a lot of sports would conflict,” said Weninger. “So, it is a logistical challenge for a lot of the coaches and governing bodies, but we want our teams to get to know each other, we want our teams to be competitive and they do have the opportunity to get practices in and get some familiarity before the games actually get going.”
The South East male basketball team is also holding its tryouts this month. Players born on Jan. 1, 2002 or later can audition for one of the 10 roster spots at the Weyburn Cugnet Centre on April 23, with the second and final tryout running the next afternoon at Weyburn Junior High School.
The female softball team is holding tryouts for players born in 2002 or 2003 on May 14 in Weyburn and May 21 at Redvers. Both the archery team and the male volleyball team will hold auditions for the clubs on May 28 and 29, with the archery tryouts running at the Estevan Archery Club and the volleyball tests happening in Weyburn on the first day before heading to Balgonie on the second.
Tryouts dates have yet to be determined for the female volleyball, athletics, triathlon, tennis, canoe kayak, equestrian and golf teams.
Weninger said interested players are asked to contact their respective coach prior to the tryouts being held. He said information on who is coaching a team, including contact information, can be found at www.southeastconnection.ca.
