Softball Manitoba boasts record field

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This article was published 08/06/2024 (695 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Don Klym has been a busy man lately, and he couldn’t be happier.

Softball Manitoba’s executive director just put the finishing touches on a 54-team draw for the provincial championship in the under-11 A division, which is the largest field in the organization’s history. It’s being held June 21-23 at Buhler Recreation Park in Winnipeg.

“We probably broke a provincial record for entries by at least 10 teams,” Klym said. “I think 45 was our biggest in the past, so it’s a great start to the 2024 softball provincial season.”

The traditional model for youth sports is they’re bottom heavy in the earliest age groups and gradually thin out until they are far fewer players in the oldest age groups. The happy news for Softball Manitoba is that the drop-off doesn’t seem to be very dramatic.

“In U13 for example, that’s coming up in Portage at the end of June and we have 41 teams in that, and that’s the most teams we’ve ever had in that provincial,” Klym said. “Between our first three provincials, we have over 100 teams, which is a great start.”

Softball Manitoba’s female summer competition schedule is:

• June 21-23 — U11 A in Winnipeg.

• June 28-30 — U13 A in Portage.

• July 5-7 — U15 A in Steinbach.

• July 11-14 — U17 AAA in Friedensfeld.

• July 12-14 — U17 A in La Salle.

• July 18-21 — U15 AAA at Ray Fennel Park in Winnipeg.

• July 19-21 — U19 AAA in Winkler; U19 A in Crystal City.

• July 25-28 — U13 AAA in Stonewall.

• July 26-28 — U11 AA at Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex (ANSC) in Brandon; U13 AA at ANSC; U15 AA at ANSC; U17 AA in Morden.

The male events, which take place in the U13, U15, U17 and U19 divisions, are all from July 5 to 7 in Dauphin. Softball Manitoba also has a masters men’s fast pitch provincial championship in Onanole from July 26 to 28.

While Softball Manitoba was the only association in Canada to hold provincials in both 2020 and 2021 despite the pandemic, registration did drop a bit during that time.

“COVID is something in the past and we just ignore it and keep moving forward now,” Klym said. “Our sport has really been growing in terms of provincial competition and participation.”

There are between 5,000 and 6,000 players registered each year, with numbers up again this year. He also noted provincial championships are being staged across the province.

But success and growth come with their own issues. The biggest is the provincial inventory of diamonds.

Softball Manitoba had leased the John Blumberg Softball Complex in Headingley from the City of Winnipeg since 1990, but it was in rough shape due to years of drought and some diamonds were unplayable.

After a report showed the facility needed $3.2 million worth of upgrades, Softball Manitoba walked away from the busiest facility in the province in 2023. The city is keeping it open, and the Smitty’s Terminators AAA clubs continue to use one of the diamonds.

“As far as regular maintenance and regular play there, that has stopped,” Klym said. “It basically goes by user inquiry when somebody wants to use it.”

As a result, nearby rural communities are hosting a lot more games than in the past. Klym said communities outside the Perimeter Highway have really stepped up.

“Last year, without Blumberg for the first year, we had a real good look at some of these rural parks and they’re getting a lot better,” he said. “They’ve also been great hosts and in really good shape, it’s just now we’re able to spread out a lot more championships.

“As far as a diamond crunch, we’re always looking for diamonds. It’s just a matter of where and who’s going to come up with the money to support that. The rural people have really come up strong and showed some great support with their home diamonds.”

The Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex (ANSC) opened in 2017, and it hosted the only Softball Canada event in Manitoba last summer when the U15 girls came to Brandon from Aug. 9 to 13. While it proved to be a rain-soaked championship that stretched the resources of the organizing committee, Klym said the tournament drew rave reviews.

“The Neufeld Complex has a great group of volunteers there and all I heard was positive comments from the people out there as well as the teams outside Manitoba,” Klym said. “They thought it was well organized. With the weather, these teams that attend national championships have dealt with weather all their lives and know it’s part of the sport. I heard zero complaints out of that.”

The facility will be back in use this summer with a new wrinkle on the competition calendar. The U13 western Canadian girls and boys championships are being hosted at ANSC from Aug. 1 to 4, which is different because Western Canadian and national championships don’t traditionally begin until the U15 level.

“It’s absolutely exciting,” Klym said. “Our first move was to get the west to agree to it. There was a little bit of pushback. People thought it was a little young to start sending teams out of province but it’s a great way for our AAA teams to get some more competition and stay in Canada. Instead of heading for an additional tournament in the States, let’s have a western Canadian and bring in all the top teams from the west for competition.”

Manitoba will provide three teams in both the girls and boys divisions, and Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia are expected to send two each. There may even be a Yukon entry, which would be a first at a western Canadian championship.

The other western Canadian championships are in North Battleford, Sask. (U15, Aug. 2-5), Port Alberni, B.C. (U17, Aug. 8-11) and Irma, Alta. (U19, Aug. 8-11), while the national female events are in Ile-Perrot, Que. (U15, Aug. 14-18), Calgary (U17, July 31-Aug. 4) and Saskatoon (U19, July 31-Aug. 4)

In addition, the 2024 Manitoba Summer Games will be held in Dauphin, with six regional female teams participating in the second phase of the event from Aug. 14 to 17.

The Canada Summer Games return in 2025, with the Manitoba squad already coming together. After more than 90 teens tried out, a top 18 was assembled in May. It includes a handful of Westman players, including Jessie Henry of Virden, Kendall Charles of Virden, Ky Solomon of Yellowhead and Naomi McKay of Waywayseecappo.

In other Softball Manitoba news, a female coach mentorship program continues to pay dividends. Seven women are involved across the province, including Brandonite Jill Twordik, and Klym said the program along with some trailblazing female coaches in the past, have been important.

For instance, Haylee O’Neill of Oakville put together the provincial Canada Summer Games team in 2011, and a significant number of those players went on to coach AAA softball.

“It’s been growing ever since, and we’ve added the mentorship program and the academy and we’ve gotten some clinicians and coaches coming out of there and taking on the AAA job openings,” Klym said. “That’s always been one of our mandates, to have female coaches coaching a female-dominant sport, especially at the minor levels, and it’s paid off greatly.”

While hockey has seen an explosion in the business of spring and summer events, a smaller growth in softball outside the traditional AAA structure has also taken a place. Since the softball season in the northern United States and Canada is shorter due to the weather, that sometimes puts the parallel systems in conflict.

As a result, Softball Manitoba has cracked down on non-sanctioned travel teams playing outside the province, and also players leaving their AAA clubs for non-sanctioned events.

“It’s a great opportunity for them, but we don’t want them taking players from club teams during the competitive season,” Klym said. “We let players go where they want during the off-season, but during the in-season, they definitely need their coach approval for leaving their team before going to non-sanctioned events.”

Klym said they’ve actually had coaches trying to poach players for non-sanctioned tournaments held at the same time as provincial championship weekends.

“We give them enough time to do what they want after August until April,” Klym said. “Once that’s done, they’re locked back into their teams. I think that’s a fair deal both ways.”

In happier news, after a decline in the number of umpires following the pandemic, Softball Manitoba’s numbers have risen across Manitoba, with the Westman association making a dramatic jump.

“We’ve done a done a great job of retainment and recruitment,” Klym said. “Our official development committee has done a great job, and Brandon is leading the way.”

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