From the Miramichi Leader:
By Blake Lynch
Published July 23, 2008
Copyright Miramichi Leader

SOFTBALL— Rejean Legere has a task ahead of him. He’s the head coach of the New Brunswick midget fast pitch softball team. He has 35-40 midget aged players registered and over the course of the next year it will be his task to bring that number down to 17 who will represent New Brunswick on a new international stage.

The squad is preparing for the North American Men’s Under-19 Fast Pitch Championships that will be held July 20, 2009 in Summerside, P.E.I. The tournament was created by Softball Canada in response to boys softball being cut from the Canada Games program.

“It was unfortunate that the boys program was cut,” said Legere. “However this tournament looks like it will be an even bigger venue to showcase elite midget level fast pitch softball.”

The event will feature a team from every Canadian province with the exception of Yukon and the Northwest Territories, as well as three or four U.S.-based teams and two or three teams from Mexico.

Playing within the Miramichi Tim Horton’s Men’s Fast Pitch League he hopes to give the players every opportunity to showcase why they deserve a spot on the final New Brunswick roster. The league consisting of older men’s teams has proven to be a tough challenge for the midget aged squad. The calibre of pitching they see on a regular basis from the likes of Jimmy Keenan, Trevor Ryan, and Brandon Gorman will give them a taste of what they can expect from top teams they will face.

As Softball New Brunswick looks to develop and bring back their programs to the glory of past years the players today are in need of competition and Legere said he is thankful he has a league at his disposal to get some innings in.

“Without the Miramichi Tim Horton’s League they’re be no one and no where for us to play,” Legere admitted. “The support from the league and the people of Miramichi has been very promising and we look forward to working with them over the the next few years as we develop this team.”

Part of that development will see the squad participate in the 2008 Midget Eastern Canadian Championships the Nelson Softball Association will host later this fall from Aug. 21-24. There are a number of local Miramichi boys looking for a spot on the squad and participating in this tournament. Follow the team and look for future articles highlighting their progress and details of of their development as this national event draws closer.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 5:02 am and is filed under International, Youth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.