The U11 Winkler Nitro captured gold in their recent playdowns and coach Dwayne Wall couldn't be prouder of his group.
"We had our playdown tournament in Carberry," explains Wall. "We worked hard and we came out with a gold medal. We played some good competition over the weekend. Our team played really well, we played our best ball at the right time of the year. We won our three round robin games and that led us to a Winkler vs Winkler final. We had a tight, close game but our girls persevered and we came out one top."
Coach Wall made sure to take in the celebration and says seeing the team enjoy the moment as a group was very special, although it took a little longer than originally expected. "We kind of, we had a rain delay over on the Sunday, so we played the final game on Tuesday. The girls definitely had some time to think about being in the finals, so coming into the game, they were super excited and you could tell they wanted to win. At the end of the game, to see the smile on their faces and the camaraderie between the girls, it was special to witness."
Throughout the year, Wall says it's been the dedication and passion of the players that has really stood out as they've taken leaps and bounds in development. "It's an age group where you get to see, probably the most growth within a season. They are like sponges at this age, they just learn so much from the beginning of the season. At the start, you're doing so many fundamentals, learning how to catch and throw, but at the end, you're using strategy and game play. You can get quite entertaining ball games by the end of the season and that shows have far they've come."
Building friendship through sport is also something Wall preaches and he says this team got it right from the start. "Right off the get-go, we had a few leaders on the team that just set things out, like we're not going to just cheer for certain people, if we're going to cheer, it's for everyone. Everybody is included. They were very encouraging as a group, always pulling for each other. If we'd partner up for activities, it was always different groups, it was so cool to see. Lots of our girls have siblings that play ball and they'd organize meetings there, they'd practice and play ball. It's something special."
The growth of softball in Winkler is something Wall and other coaches from all age levels take a lot of pride in and it's only going to continue to grow. "It shows that our programs are in good shape," the coach says with a smile. "We had the gold, silver and bronze finishes in girls U11 softball, it shows the level of talent out there and the great coaches. We have terrific parents that support the athletes, it's just such a blast to be a part of."
Looking into the future, more athletes are going to have a chance to play high level softball while also getting an elite education and Wall believes many from the Winkler area will have that chance. "It's becoming a goal for some of these girls and it would be so exciting to see more Winkler girls getting those opportunities and achieve those outcomes, if that's what they want. It's early on in the journey but if it's something they want to do, it's a cool place to be."