@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }
Softball in the city is gearing up for a quick start to the spring season.
The local Learn to Play program went under the knife over the winter as the local softball organizers tweaked how it will be executed here.
The premise of the program is to develop skills, not play games. Each community can alter the program to fit their needs, but in general it provides young players with more time working with the ball, with a greater amount of one-to-one instruction.
Shauna Earl, president of Estevan Girls' Softball, said in the past, the program has targeted those aged five to 10, mixing them amongst different teams to work on skills.
"Ages five to 10 is quite a wide range," said Earl. "This year we're going back to grouping them by age and ability so we're not going to have five to 10-year-olds on the same team. Having said that, it's age and ability. So if you've got a seven-year-old who can throw the ball, they might be playing with the 10-year-olds."
That change was decided after the issue was raised by some of the parents.
"There's just a wide developmental range between a five and a 10-year-old. This way we can target the development according to where the kids are at, instead of having a mix of five and 10-year-olds where the skills are going to vary so grossly."
The focus for the organization this year is to bring the best experience possible to all of the players, said Earl.
"We want to develop the player skill. I'm a firm believer that fun is knowing the skill," she said. "It's not fun standing up there swinging the bat 20 times, and missing the ball. If you know how to swing the bat right, and hit the ball consistently, that's fun. From my philosophy, I think (having fun and competing) are intertwined, but absolutely positively, it's about having fun, and it's about everybody participating."
They are always looking for more volunteers, Earl added, because a lot of help is necessary to not just teach ball skills but to build up a well-organized program.
Estevan Girls' Softball also runs the Estevan Softball League, so teams apply for spots in this league, which involves teams from squirt to bantam and midget.
Because they at times have trouble acquiring umpires to officiate some of the younger games, often parents are called upon to ump the games. Earl said many parents are tentative about doing this, partially due to unfamiliarity with the rules. To counter this, they will be bringing in the umpire in chief of their zone to host an information session for parents who may find themselves in charge of the game.
To further alleviate some of the pressure with officiating, the league is instituting an umpire's timeout. The umpire, or either team, call the timeout if there is any uncertainty, and the ump and coaches can confer on what the appropriate call should be.
"We're hoping that will take a little bit of the onus off of new umps or parents."
Still waiting for the snow to clear, Estevan Girls' Softball is organizing preseason camps for players eager to work out the winter kinks. These skills sessions will happen in the last three weeks of April. The dates for the sessions vary each week but a schedule can be found by contacting Earl. Anybody interested in registering for softball, who missed the city-wide registration can call Earl at 634-6544.
There is also a softball clinic planned in the middle of May, with some players from the National team coming down to teach skills.
"We're kind of pumped about that," said Earl. "It's exciting to have that level of coaching in our area. It'll help our players and our c
