B01 (Sports) - Sechelt Minor Softball

Sports
Friday,
May 9, 2008
B1
BRIEFS
Dempster 4-1
SKILLS CLINIC:
The Simon Fraser
University Clan
women’s softball
team was on
the Coast last
weekend for a
three-day skills
clinic sponsored
by the Sechelt
Minor Softball
Association.
IAN JACQUES PHOTOS
Gibsons Ryan Dempster
suffered his first loss of the
season Monday night.
Dempster pitched six
innings, allowing no earned
runs on four hits while striking out seven. Dempster’s
defence let him down as all
five Cincinnati Reds’ runs
were unearned due to several Chicago Cubs errors in
the 5-3 Reds win.
On April 30, Dempster
went to 4-0 after he staked
to a 6-0 lead after the first
inning and never looked
back as the Cubs pounded
the Brewers 19-5. Dempster
pitched six innings, allowing three runs on four hits.
He walked five and had
only one strikeout.
High school golf
SOFTBALL
Sunshine Coast skills shine with SFU
IAN JACQUES
EDITOR
Some up and coming
softball stars learned from
the best at the annual
Simon Fraser University
(SFU) Clan softball clinic
last weekend.
The fourth annual
event, put on by the Sechelt
Minor Softball Association
(SMSA), saw more than 100
youngsters participate in
the three-day clinic.
More than 60 players
took part in a pitching
clinic on Friday night at
Kinnikinnick Elementary
School. SFU head coach
Mike Renney said the
players were divided into
groups based on their age
and skill level.
“If it was a younger
pitcher, maybe a player
who has just started pitching, then we made sure
to get right down to the
basics,” said Renney. “For
some of the older players,
we took the opportunity
to do some more advanced
things with them and try
to help them to refine their
game.”
On
Saturday
and
Sunday, all-day skills clinics
were held at Kinnikinnick
Park where each of the 18
members of the Clan softball team led participants
through a variety of drills
from proper fielding and
catching to base running
and hitting.
“Every year we come up
here, I’m impressed with
the improvement in all the
players,” Renney said.
While the players were
on the field, several coaches were in the classroom
on Saturday and Sunday
mornings for a coaching
clinic put on by Renney.
“Again, it’s just as
important for the coaches
to get a refresher on skills
and coaching as it is for
the players,” Renney said.
“We can only do so many
things during a weekend.
It’s up to the coaches to
further the players’ skills
and development. This
association certainly does
that. They care about the
players and want to see
them succeed.”
Renney said SFU does
other clinics, but the weekend on the Sunshine Coast
is one the team looks forward to.
“We
have
limited
availability based on our
schedule and with travel
demands, but we’re always
treated first rate by the association and by everyone
here on the Coast, so now
we block in this weekend
every year,” said Renney.
“It’s about giving back to
the sport and giving back to
your community. The only
way we’ll be able to sustain our softball program
at SFU or the national team
is to keep players involved
in the sport. Hosting these
clinics is a way of doing
just that.”
SMSA president Sid
Quinn said he was thrilled
with the numbers for this
year’s clinic — the largest
one yet in the four-year
history.
“It’s for the kids. It gives
them a chance to learn
from some of the best players and one of the best
coaches in softball,” Quinn
said. “Mike’s overall knowledge of the game is incredible. To be afforded the
opportunity to learn from
him is a privilege that our
players and our association
is proud to be a part of.”
The SMSA season is just
four weeks old, but already
the season has produced
its fair share of close games
and quality play — play
that has improved thanks
to the annual SFU softball
weekend.
“There is no question
that our players’ skills
have improved thanks to
the efforts of Mike and his
players,” added Quinn.
Fourth-year
senior
Heather Riess from Surrey
has been at all the Sunshine
Coast camps. The second
baseman said it’s been a
great experience working with the kids over the
years.
“It’s been a rewarding
experience for me. To see
the smiles on the kids’ faces
and to feel that you’re giving back to the sport and to
your community is a good
thing,” she said. “It’s neat
to watch the kids, especially this year because I’ve
kind of seen them grow
up over the years and seen
them improve and get better with their game.”
The Clan has had a
tough season on the field.
Plagued with a dozen rainouts, several of which were
in California, and snow
in Oregon, the Clan have
played only 21 games and
go into this weekend’s
regional finals in Oregon
with a 14-7 record.
“It’s going to be a challenge for us,” said Renney.
“The big thing for us is
maybe not being as battle
tested as the other three
teams. They’ve all played
close to 40 games, where
we’ve just played 21. We
have a young team this
year, but if we play the
way we’re capable of, I’m
very confident we can
advance to the nationals.”
Should SFU be successful
this weekend, the Clan
head to the nationals set
for Alabama later in the
month.
Elphinstone Secondary
School awaits their playoff
fate after completing their
regular season with a 7-0
win on April 30 over arch
rival Chatelech.
Elphi is 3-1 in league
play, tied for top spot with
Collingwood in the Mike
Weir Division in the North
Shore Secondary School’s
Athletic Association. Chat
is 1-2 playing in the same
division as Elphi and is tied
with St. Thomas Aquinas
in third spot. League play
continues this week for
several other teams, with
the playoffs slated to start
on May 12.
Ultimate
Chatelech is off to
the North Shore finals
this week after completing league play on Friday,
May 2, with a 13-10 loss
to Sentinel. Chat was up
seven in the early part of
the game, but Sentinel
came back with great team
momentum and flow on
the field, according to
Chat coach Jamie Mani.
Track and field
Jenna Nestman is
one of 20 athletes from
the University of British
Columbia’s (UBC) track
and field team that has
qualified for the NAIA
National Championships
in St. Louis, Missouri.
Nestman
originally
from Sechelt, moved to the
Lower Mainland a few years
ago to attend Kitsilano Secondary School and now
UBC. She has qualified in
the heptathlon.