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As his AA team prepares for the upcoming Showcase weekend, coach Dave Danners believes his group is ready to put on a show and be at their best against some teams they have never played before.
Looking back to the start of the year, Danners says that there's a lot that goes into getting the team ready for the season. "It's very busy at the start, there's tryouts, organizing a team, organizing locations and times that work for everyone. Once the season starts, once tryouts are over and the team is picked, it starts to even out and slow down a bit. The beginning is super busy and overwhelming, actually. But once you get your staff and manager and coaches out, it makes it a lot easier."
Putting the team together is something and Danners says it's been a treat to see the girls come together and really buy in to playing for each other. "They're a fabulous group of girls," he says proudly. "I've told them a couple of times this year, I've said I have a very hard time setting lineups or how we're going to go through a game because they're all so good. They can play any position at any time, so sometimes I have a hard time getting them out because I have such a wide selection of skill and dedication. They're a really great group of girls. It was mentioned by evaluators during tryouts, they really noticed how good the girls were with eachother. They were encouraging, helping, just everything, they're a great group."
As a coach, a big takeaway Danners cherishes is the fact the team is building life long friendships through sport. "Some of them have played together for a couple of years, when they were younger coming up. We have girls on this team from Glenboro to Virden, we're a totally Westman team, like they are scattered all over. So, they're not always going to school together, they're from different teams and schools but you'd never know. When they're all together on the diamond or at practice or at a game, you'd never know that, you'd think these girls have been together since they were little. They're such a good group of girls who have totally gelled."
This upcoming weekend is going to be another bonding experience but Danners also believes it'll be a chance to open some eyes. "We're going to the big Showcase in Brandon. We're playing some teams that we've played before in exhibition but we also have some games this weekend against team that we've never seen before. That's good, that's exciting, I really like playing teams that we've never seen before because it's so interesting, you never know what's going to happen."
In going up against teams they don't see, Danners says they can focus more on their own game and lean into what makes them successful and there's a couple of areas he believes will do just that. "I think our defense has been fabulous. One thing I always tell the girls is, the team that makes the fewest mistakes is usually the winner. Up to now, these girls have made very few mistakes in the field defensively. They are really good at it and they're careful, they don't over think or rush things. I have a good group of girls with a lot of skill but I think the defense will make a big different this weekend."
There are more roads now for young female athletes to think of higher education as well as higher athletics, a fact that Danners believes is massive for motivation and for girls to have goals. "I've encouraged it over that last couple of years because sometimes it's not always known. Girls sometimes realize they can go somewhere else and continue to play whatever sport they're into. I encourage them to find avaneues where they can still play sports after high school or U19, it's so great for them. Lately, in the last bunch of years, we're starting to get more scouts from teams coming to watch these Showcases, talking to us coaches or parents to tell these girls that there is a future after this. They can get an education while playing sports and it's very exiting. They might be surprised but it makes them more into the game. They like the game and they're good and if they can continue with also getting an education, that's huge."
The upcoming showcase in Brandon should be a lot of fun on and off the diamond for Danners and his team.