Build it and they will come. That’s the thought behind local organizers creating a new softball league for girls five to 17 years old.
Stacey McCausland, who has been involved with Powell River women’s softball, said it has been a number of years since there has been an organized girls’ softball league and the women’s league is starting to notice fewer younger women wanting to come out to play ball.
Rick Hopper, president of Powell River Minor Baseball Association, said it is a trend that is happening around the province. He contacted Softball BC, the provincial body of the sport, to see what local minor baseball associations could do to help.
He discovered that it is becoming commonplace for minor baseball associations to be also promoting girls’ softball leagues, Hopper said. “It’s a good synergy between the groups and this will just get more kids playing ball,” he said.
In the same way girls’ hockey has taken off in Powell River, Hopper said he thinks there is a demand for softball.
McCausland said that they are looking for anyone interested in playing, even if they are new to the sport.
“We’ve got some really experienced women who are willing to step up and coach,” she said. “It is a bit more recreational and open to players of a lot more levels of fitness and skill.”
One of the most attractive parts of softball is that the sport does not require a player to be a skilled athlete to enjoy, she added.
Both noted that softball is increasingly becoming a sport that players need to seek out where previously they would have had more exposure at school.
Hopper said that while the local school’s fields are used by adults playing ball in the evening, he said they are rarely used by students playing ball during the school day.
“When I was a kid going to elementary school we played softball at school,” he said. “You never see a kid with a glove at school. They just never do it anymore.”
Registrations are being accepted on Saturdays, February 21 and 28, on the lower level of Powell River Recreation Complex. Organizers are asking parents or guardians to bring the player’s birth certificate and three cheques for each player when registering to cover registration fee, uniform deposit and volunteer fee.
For more information readers can visit Powell River Minor Baseball Association online or email [email protected].
