Team Canada is gearing up for the Scotiabank Canadian Open Fastpitch Women's International Championship in Oklahoma City as they have already begun their Selection Camp and training. Some of our National Team hopefuls have recently completed impressive NCAA softball seasons, and will be carrying that momentum when they compete for a spot on the Canadian roster. We are also very pleased that quite a few of our Junior Women’s National Team players are pushing for a spot on the Senior team, mere months after representing Canada in the ISF IX Junior Women’s World Championship in South Africa in December.
In preparation for the 2012 International softball season, the Team Canada coaching staff asked a group of National Team veterans to come up with a theme for their run towards the ISF XIII Women’s World Championship in Whitehorse. As a result, the team agreed on “The Quest”, representing Canada’s quest towards its second consecutive medal at the marquee event in women’s fastpitch. The inspiration behind “The Quest” comes from a 1,000 mile dog sled race that concludes in Whitehorse each year, representing a collective group pulling together towards one goal – winning a medal!
Another exciting fact is that Canadians across the country will be able to follow Team Canada’s progress over the next six weeks. TSN has confirmed that they will be airing the Title IX 40th Anniversary Celebration Game between Canada and the United States (June 24 at 9:00pm PDT, TSN2), the US World Cup of Softball round-robin game between the two countries (July 2 at 12:00pm PDT, TSN2) as well as the Gold medal game of the event (6:00pm PDT, TSN2). In addition to these three games on national television, fans will also have the opportunity to watch all 66 games of the ISF XIII Women’s World Championship (July 13-22 in Whitehorse, Yukon) via live web stream at no cost. Live scoring will also be available for all games, so there will be no shortage of softball action this summer! And if you can't make it out to the park to watch Team Canada as they compete in the Scotiabank Canadian Open Fastpitch, there will be live web streaming for all of their games during this event as well!
The Scotiabank Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship will be the last opportunity for Team Canada to prepare to compete at the World Championship in Whitehorse, and we look forward to having the opportunity to compete against some very good teams. Make sure to follow “The Quest” as it makes its way from Oklahoma City to Surrey and all the way to Whitehorse!
Gilles LeBlanc
Manager – Marketing and Communications, Softball Canada
