While I spent a great deal of my time at the Canada Cup watching the women’s division games, I was also able to take some time to watch a few Futures and Showcase divisions games as well. The Futures division was added to the Canada Cup lineup three years ago, and has become a very popular event for 18 and under teams (although at the international level it is actually a 19 and under division). The Showcase division was added this year and features 16 and under teams.
The Futures event featured 37 teams; two teams from Chinese Taipei, sixteen from Canada and nineteen from the United States. The new Showcase division had 10 teams participating, nine from Canada and one from America. It’s an odd mix of teams, from what appear to be all-star teams from local Canadian youth softball leagues, to the familiar travel teams, from Gold to A, and of course two hand picked national teams from Chinese Taipei.
The dates of the event, this year from July 2nd through the 10th, creates a problem for some American teams, especially for competitive teams who are interested in qualifying for Nationals, or teams who desire to provide their players exposure at one of the popular Colorado showcase events. While the Canada Cup Futures championship is a significant accomplishment, and some college coaches did make the trip to the Great White North to check out some players, it is not the same as getting your ticket punched for ASA Nationals, or the depth of recruitment available elsewhere.
And yet they come, for the international flavor, for the diverse competition, for the favorable exchange rate, and for the atmosphere, which not even Colorado can match. I spent time with a few of the coaches to get their reasons for attending the event, and a feel for what their expectations were in attending the event. Since my daughter’s Gold team had played in the Futures division the first year it was held, I had some idea of why teams were there, but it was interesting none the less to get the perspective of a wide range of teams.
One such team was the San Jose Slammers, an 18U ‘A’ team coached by Scott McCollum. I met with Scott after his team walked off of the field following a thrilling 3-2 victory over a Canadian team, as his team scored two in the bottom of the seventh to pull it out. He told me that his team was going to attend ASA Western Nationals, and therefore had no need to attend other qualifiers. He mentioned that he considered his team a "showcase" team that attended many exposure events in the States, and felt his players would get exposure to new and different colleges in Canada. This was his first trip to British Columbia, and he likened it to an Olympic environment, and related that his girls were enjoying their time at the event.
Jill Edger is the manager of the Roseville Heat, an 18U ‘A’ team who was using the Canada Cup as their year end event; the team was disbanding after the tournament. Jill spoke about her desire to take her team to a quality event for their final games, and for them, it was the Canada Cup. She specifically mentioned the beautiful location, the competitive level of competition and how well run the event was.
For a little Canadian flavor, I spoke to Ed Klammer, manager of Fusion 90 and Canadian Futures participant. This was his team’s first trip to the Canada Cup and Ed talked about how exciting the tournament was for his players, and a great chance for his team to play against some quality teams. Much like in the US, Canada has a national championship program that was just weeks away from hitting high gear. They play local, provisional events to qualify for the overall championship.
I was also lucky enough to spend some time with the eventual Futures champion’s coach, Bill Smith of the West Bay Nuggets. The Nuggets are a Gold team, and not yet qualified for ASA Nationals. Bill informed me that he had committed to the Cup early, and when there was a change in the Gold qualifier dates, he chose to fulfill that commitment, and eventually with the win, was glad he did. According to Bill, "Not for the success we had at Softball City, but rather to build relations with a crew of people in Surrey that we felt reflected our own values and outlook regarding the sport." Earlier in the event, he told me he felt that if the event didn’t conflict with Colorado, the Canada Cup might be one of the most popular exposure events around.
When asked about the choice between the Colorado events and Canada, Bill went on to say, "The major showcases are going through a transition period. The rules regarding Aurora would have required that a team as young as we were originally configured to play the 16-under portion of the event. Colorado is still the center of the showcase universe _but we are looking to return to Canada Cup with a women’s entry. Everything else will fall into place around that effort next summer."
When asked about the significance of winning the event, Bill explained, "The growth of the team and individuals had been dramatically evident in our recent success in the Gold qualifiers. Canada Cup was the culmination of preparing the team to play at the level expected of them by collegiate coaches. The pressure of a Saturday night winner’s bracket final against a fine Georgia Fire team was the crucible that I sought to test our squad. The tournament final versus Chinese Taipei (a 3-1 win) with all the attending atmosphere of a packed house, was further proof that our ‘merry band of lesser ranksters’ have ascended to the heights of their dreams."
FOUL TIPS
A funny coincidence: the Canada Cup pre-assigns local youth as batgirls for all teams participating in the event. The batgirls for the two teams in the Futures Finals, the Nuggets and Chinese Taipei were twin sisters * * * * The elimination of softball from the Olympics has dashed the hopes and dreams of hundreds of thousands of young ladies. I really don’t have the space to address this shocking development, but I should be able to put something together for a future column * * * * As always, you can contact me at floydeunslip@yahoo.com_and so the ball rolls.