The Southeast Girls Softball League has its Year End Jamboree tournament in Mitchell this weekend.
Roxanne Cure, president of the SEGSL says the league includes nine communities with a few hundred girls that play.
“The weekend tournament is for all of our age groups. For U9 and U11, it’s still more developmental. They play just a few little games, but U13 and 15, we treat it as a year-end tournament to see who’s going to walk home with the gold, silver, and bronze.”
Cure discusses why they host this tournament every year.
“It’s fun to watch the teams come together, play, compete, have camaraderie, and then they see friends from other towns,” she explains. “It’s a great way to cap off a season that is relatively short.”
Younger girls have the opportunity to learn to show off the skills they have been learning all spring.
“This is for our U9. The girls are just starting out, and more developmental. We had some mini-games. We did accurate throw, who can run around the bases the fastest, who can throw the furthest, and who can hit off the tee the furthest, and the girls really liked it.”
Cure says she has three of her own girls playing baseball this year and taking part in the tournament.
“Growing up baseball was my sport so being able to watch my girls play baseball is pretty special,” she says. “When I was a kid, my dad coached so I had a lot of fond memories and I wanted to do the same for my girls. That’s why I’ve chosen to coach, and I just enjoy watching them play and have fun.”
As a softball enthusiast herself, she has decided to coach this year to spend more time with her kids and enjoy her love for the sport. She explains some highlights from the season.
“The support they give each other, when they start to cheer each other on and celebrate when somebody does something awesome,” Cure says. “They are making new friends because we do have a lot of kids that come from different towns, and they go to different schools and then when they put on different teams, they may end up with people they don’t necessarily know, so there’s a lot of new friendships that get made, which is also quite neat to see.”
Cure encourages parents to register their kids and says to keep an eye out around February and March for registration dates.
“See if your town has an association. If not, whatever town is the closest because not everybody has one,” she explains. “Most towns will post something on Facebook or send out flyers. Just keep your eye out and register your kids, it’s a lot of fun.”
For more information, check out their website.
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Check out photos from the tournament: