A local slo-pitch team is representing Lethbridge in a big way.
The Average Joe Reapers entered a tournament last year in Okotoks. First prize was a chance to play on the big stage in Florida with about 1,000 other teams. Of the thousand teams, only a handful are from the great north.
“It was so uncommon that Alberta was not in the drop down menu,” said team member Jennifer Schroeder. Now going by the Lethbridge Blue Jays, they plan to represent Canada softball at its fullest by using the Blue Jay logo.
The team itself is fairly new, playing together for the first time last year in the tournament that started their journey.
“We all just meshed at the right time and it all came pretty easy,” said Schroeder.
Planning a trip like this is an expensive ordeal. It all wouldn’t be possible without their fundraising efforts and countless volunteer hours. Putting on tournaments locally, selling chocolate and pushing for sponsorships.
“We’re are just trying to re-live our childhoods,” said assistant coach Cam Kissick.
The competition is going to be stiff, saying that last year in the division, Jose Canseco was competing. The higher divisions are full of retired MLB players and professionals. They are just setting their hopes to have fun and wishing no one gets hurt. That would be a win in their books.
Kissick didn’t buy cancellation insurance on his ticket, so he’s trying not to think about the disasters happening down south. As for the rest of the team, in the case their trip does get cancelled, they plan on donating all the proceeds they raised to Red Cross Foundation in their efforts to clean up the devastation.