The U-16 boys softball team with their championship banner. (submitted photo/Kevin Roberts)

By Derek Cornet

Provincial Sports

LLRIB U-16 softball team strikes gold at FSIN championships

Aug 12, 2019 | 2:00 PM

A team of 11 boys from the Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB) earned gold medals on the weekend at the 2019 Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Youth Softball Championships in Prince Albert.

The U-16 team went undefeated in all five games and won 18-2 against Canoe Lake Cree First Nation in the final. According to Coach Jimmy Charles, the team consists of six boys from the La Ronge area with the remainder from Stanley Mission. He noted the final match could have been anyone’s game as Canoe Lake had also gone undefeated in their pool as well.

“It was pretty much on the guys attending practices, and we just finished the 2019 Tony Cote Summer Games,” Charles said. “We didn’t do too good, but we figured we’d be a little for hungry for the FSIN title. The boys stepped it up a notch and we went from there.”

Considering members of the team live in two communities an hour apart, they have only been able to practice together once or twice per week depending on the weather in recent months. Charles mentioned all the boys are familiar with each other as it is the exact same group which won the U-16 title at the Youth Softball Championships back in 2017.

Charles also said there’s currently a push in LLRIB communities for young people to learn how to play softball. For years, he said slow-pitch was popular, but the band is now looking to make the change. Efforts are starting to pay off, Charles added, which is evident by the U-16 team’s performance over the weekend.

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“They are starting to get the hang of the game and we have a few boys on the team who will be heading to the final camp for Team Saskatchewan [to compete in] the North American Indigenous Games,” he said. “That’s going to be in Halifax in 2020.”

The 2019 Youth Softball Championships were hosted by the LLRIB and included approximately 800 athletes in 60 teams and nine divisions. Charles stated it was one of the best softball tournaments he’s attended and organizers should be proud because it was a successful event.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno