Carp I4C Victory NHL Playoff Pool

The Carp I4C Victory NHL Playoff Pool

$10 entry

1st place: $1000
2nd place: $400
3rd place: $100

Enter online

Pool Season: 2012 Playoffs
Pool Name: Victory
Guest Password: fastball

Enter by April 16 at 5pm (Pacific Time).

Softball Ontario Fastpitch Rookie Umpire of the Year

from the Softball Ontario Junior Blue newsletter

We were extremely pleased to present Ayden Allen of Orleans, ON with the inaugural Fast Pitch Rookie Umpire of the Year award. Ayden is seen receiving his award at the annual Umpire Awards Banquet held recently in Markham. Ayden is a 16 year old Level 1 FP/SP umpire with the Orleans Amateur Fastball Association. He is a student at Sir Wilfred Laurier High School and will be 17 in May 2012. He plays in two high school bands, plays football (courses permitting) in the fall, and plays fastball in the Orleans Amateur Fastball Association.

He began umpiring Mite and Squirt house league ball in Orleans in 2008 and has progressed through the various divisions, doing Jr. Women house league, Novice, Pee Wee and Bantam select, some OIWFA Ladies exhibition games, as well as Special Olympic SP games during the 2011 season.

He is a hard working young umpire who is eager to learn, works hard on his game, and plans on taking his Level 2 clinic this spring.

This past fall, Ayden also received the 2011 OAFA Junior Umpire of the Year award, presented by OAFA president Rob Douthwright. OAFA is the Orleans Amateur Fastball Association where Ayden does the majority of his games.

And after the ceremony, they got a picture of Ayden with his proud grandfather, Dick Coleman who is also a very active umpire in Orleans and elsewhere in the Ottawa area. I guess it runs in the family as Dick was the very deserving recipient of the prestigious Softball Canada Umpire of the Year Award in 2009.

REMINDER: New league for the Upper Valley in 2012

Good news has been received from the Upper Ottawa Valley - there will be a new men's recreational fastball league in the area for 2012.

Jerry McIntyre is working hard at putting the league together for men ages 16 and older. It will be a draft format, with all skill levels welcome.

The league, scheduled to begin May 22 and end on July 31, will have each team playing once a week on the Cobden and Micksburg diamonds. Playoffs will follow.

There will be a restricted pitchers list as this is a rec league and the league will be trying to develop young pitchers. All pitchers under 18 years old will be required to wear a mask.

Jerry wants all pitchers to contact him before April 1 and all other players by April 7.

For more information or to register, contact Jerry at jtmb16@yahoo.com or 613-735-0725.

Much nicer to be posting about a new league starting up rather than a league folding!

REMINDER: Williamsburg 9th Annual Tournament

From Lyle Schell

Welcome to the 9th Annual Casey At Bat Fastball tournament. May 25,26,27 2012.

Team entry $375.00

1st place- $1200.00
2nd place- $600.00
3rd place- $400.00
Prize money based on 10 teams.

Same as previous years, there is no restriction on players, and unlimited defense.

Player awards, fan favourite, and an all star team.

Cheques are made payable to:
Williamsburg Fastball
12785 Froatburn Rd
Williamsburg Ont
K0C 2H0

This year we have a live band booked for the Saturday night, as well as a chicken BBQ. The band is free (sponsored) and the chicken BBQ (Saturday 4-6ish) will be $10.00 plate (bun and salad).

Lyle Schell
cigars32[at]hotmail.com
613-219-5367
613-535-9949

Softball Canada - "nationals" info

from Mike Branchaud

Calling All Fast Pitch Softball Teams in Canada

The 2012 Canadian Fast Pitch Championships are open to all teams for registration regardless of classification. Each Championship will feature teams in both an “A” category as well as a “seeding” bracket category (B, C, Tier 2 and House League teams) whenever possible. The championship format will vary depending on registration numbers. The A category will use the same format as in past years and follow the Special Operating Rules within the Softball Canada rulebook.
Dates and Locations

U14 Girl’s Jamboree – Brampton, ON, August 15–19 – both A and seeding categories
U16 Girl’s – Brantford, ON, August 8-12 - both A and seeding categories
U18 Women’s – Montreal, QC, August 12-19 (A Division) and August 16-19 (seeding division)
U18 Men’s – Fredericton, NB, August 6-12 – one division only
U21 Women’s – Truro, NS, August 1-5 – both A and seeding categories
U21 Men’s – Owen Sound, ON – August 6-12 (A Division) and August 9-12 (seeding division)
Sr. Women’s – Jarvis, ON, - August 8-12 (A Division) and August 9-12 (seeding division)
Sr. Men’s – Fredericton, NB, Aug 28-Sept 2 (A Division) and Aug 30-Sept 2 (seeding division)

Details for Seeding Bracket
• Each Team will play a minimum of 5 round robin games
• After the round robin play, teams will be divided into categories (depending on the number of teams participating) based on win/loss records. Teams could play up to 4 more playoff games.
• Medals will be awarded to the top 3 finishers in each category
• Trophy/plaque awarded to division champion
• Scores/standings on tournament website
• Teams to declare intent to play through their provincial / territorial association
• Registration fee of $500 plus $1000 refundable hotel bond. The $1000 will only be cashed if a team is in default of staying at a tournament host hotel.

Over the course of the next few weeks, each Canadian Championship website will be updated with information pertaining to hotels, diamonds, banquet, meeting times, etc. There will also be intent to register forms online that teams can complete and submit. The completed form does not guarantee a spot in the Championship. Teams will still have to follow registration procedures within their own province/territory. Softball Canada will provide each team with a minimum of 6 games.

If you have any questions regarding the 2012 Canadian Fast Pitch Championships, please visit www.softball.ca or contact mbranchaud@softball.ca.

Hope to see your team at a Canadian Championship in 2012

Mike Branchaud
Manager, Canadian Championships / Domestic Services

Cruisin' Caveman

During the March Break, the whole Fitzroy Fastball family went on a cruise for the first time. (Financed by the big money I make from the Blog, of course.) Great time had by all - a few of the highlights below, including some Caveman antics and a few tie-ins to fastball.

- Due to the price of flights, we departed from the Albany, NY airport. On the way down, we went through Croghan, NY which used to host a men's fastball tourney. (Do they still?) Anyway, it's totally unfair, but I now hate Croghan. As we entered the area, a blizzard began to fall, making the roads treacherous and slick - and for some reason according to Mrs. Fastball it was somehow my fault. Good times white knuckle driving to start the vacation. Fortunately Fitzroy Junior and Caveman were not phased and just continued playing their video games (aka "nerd boxes") in the back seat.

- Once we got there, the cruise was excellent, especially the food. The Caveman dream came true: bacon every morning for breakfast. The kid does like his cured pork products.

- We had three stops on our ship, including St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Beautiful island - made more beautiful by the fact that on our tour there, we saw some young kids playing fastball at school.

- Caveman certainly made his presence well known on the ship. By day three, some cruise staff were greeting him by name!

- He also enjoyed himself throughly at the "Kids' Club". He was excited to meeting another boy with the same first name as him (his real first name, but let's substitute Caveman). He noted a small difference: "Daddy, there is another boy in Kids' Club named [Caveman]. And he's a brown guy - I'm [Caveman] Brown and he's Brown [Caveman]!

- The ship also featured a 'sports zone'. With Mrs. Fastball and Fitzroy Junior off snorkeling at one island stop, Caveman (who was too young for the activity) and I stayed onboard and kept ourselves busy with mini-putt golf, basketball and ping pong. Caveman really took to ping pong and by the end was pretty good. He told me that his new rankings of favourite sports was now 1. Hockey 2. Ping pong 3. Softball. Yikes!

- Cruise protocol dictates that each cabin gets the same 'steward' to clean up after you for the week. The guy assigned to us, Dexter, was a very very patient man. For some reason, the Caveman really took to him. Each day, Caveman peppered Dexter with questions and he was a good sport about answering this little maniac's queries. A summary of a few of the questions (at least the ones I can remember) is below:

"What's your name?" "Dexter"
"Where are you from?" "Nicaragua"
"What is your town called?" "Managua"
"Where do you live now?" "On Deck 1, down in the bottom of the ship"
"Do you have a wife?" "Yes"
"Does she live here too?" "No"
"How old are you?" "Guess"
"21?" "Higher"
(They go 'higher and lower' until we figure out Dexter is 35.)
"Do they pay you?" "Yes"
"How much...."(I cut that one off)
"How did you learn to make all those towel animals?" "Practice"
"Can you make one for me tonight?" "Of course"
"What sports do you play?" "I used to play baseball, now I play softball"
(I followed up, Dexter plays fastball back home in Nicaragua when he's off work.)
"Do you play hockey?" "No little man, no hockey where I'm from"
"What's your favourite colour?" "I like red"
"Can you come for lunch with us?" "How about you bring me back a steak?" "OK!"
Note - this is just a sampling of the questions. We left a pretty good tip.

- Asked Fitzroy Junior about his favourite things during the week: "Snorkelling, the hot tub, steak for supper every night." Caveman's version: "Ping pong, meeting Dexter, bacon and the kids' club."

Anyway, vacation time is over getting ready for the West Carleton Minor Softball pitching clinic next week and sorting out all registrations for our teams this season.

ISC 50+ team seeks players

from Dave Birnie

The Stoney Creek Scrappers master’s fastball team is looking to add 3 or 4 players to our roster for the 2012 ISC 50+ Legends World Tournament in Midland Michigan Aug 16-18 ( Thurs, Fri, Sat ).

Players can be 49 as long as they turn 50 anytime during this calendar year.

Some of the pitchers from last year’s tournament included Peter Meredith, Al Rebling, Barry Dalmasso, Brent Stevenson, Rick Barker, Wayne Wells and Darren Zack.

We faced the great Darren Zack and the defending Champions, Cobourg Force in the quarter finals and lost 4-3, we had runners on 1st & 3rd with 1 out in the bottom of the 7th but could not score.

We don’t have any big names like Zack on our roster, just a bunch of “Scrappy” players who play hard, have fun on and off the field and support each other, great team chemistry, no attitudes, no egos etc.

All players play for the love of the game and pay for all of their own expenses.

Last year we had some international flavour on our team, most of players are from Ontario, we also had 1 American and 3 Kiwis.

We will be attending the World Masters Games in Torino Italy in 2013.

contact:
Dave Birnie
Manager
Stoney Creek Scrappers
dbirnie(at)cogeco(dot)ca

Blackburn Men's League update

from Derek Bergeron

The Blackburn Men's Fastball League (www.bmfl.ca) is currently seeking players to fill out our teams. We are a recreational league with great camaraderie and a great location/atmosphere to play in. Based out of Orient Park in Blackburn Hamlet, it is less than 10 minutes east from downtown Ottawa and minutes from Orleans. It's players range from 18 to 50+. The BMFL's 8 teams start play May 3rd with 1 exhibition game for each team then a 21 game schedule + playoffs which are best of 3 ending at the end of September. All teams play on Sunday evenings (5pm, 5pm, 7pm or 9pm) as well as once either Tuesday or Thursday evening (7pm or 9pm) during the week (no games are played on holiday weekends). League fee is $225 which includes your ticket entry to our catered awards banquet at the end of the year.

In the past, our league has seen many players from all different backgrounds join. Some players have never played organized ball or some had been away from the game for many years. Many hardball players make the transition every year along with slowpitch players who are looking for something a little more competitive. The BMFL strives to have parity among it's teams and has taken very large steps over the past winter to accomplish just that. We are looking forward to another great season of fastball in 2012!

Any players interested in joining the BMFL are encouraged to contact Derek Bergeron, BMFL Executive VP (bergeronderek@gmail.com), call or text 6138082059.

Glen Cairn Men's League update

from Michael Vandenberg, GCMFL Prez

On March 18th the first and only in-person registration night was held for the GCMFL (Glen Cairn Men's Fastball League).

As a result there are 70 players registered for the 2012 season. We continue to accept registrations online and we encourage all players interested in playing to do so. If you wish to pay via cheque and regular mail instead of paying online please email executive @ gcmfl dot com for the address.

Check out GCMFL.com for more details.

Elkland to host NAFA tournament

from Bruce Hackett

Elkland, PA - The North American Fastpitch Association announces the Canada & U.S. Northeast Super Regional will be held August 4-5 (Fri late if needed) at the beautiful Durk Sherman Memorial Complex.

The event winners in each division will have their entry fee paid to the 2012 NAFA World Series in Topeka, Kansas.

The NAFA Pitching Lists will be used for each class.

There will be two divisions offered, an A-Major/”A” Divisions with 12 teams and a AA/AA-Major Division with 12 teams.

The format will use the NAFA 3GG Bracket just like at the World Series.

The Official NAFA Ball will be used.

We will only play Friday night if needed due to the number of teams.

To Enter, email NAFA Executive Director, Benjie Hedgecock at Nafafastpitch@gmail.com. The entry fee is $350 per team.

Tournament Director Benjie Hedgecock, 503-559-5398, Nafafastpitch@gmail.com
The top umpires from around the area will be used and the following awards will be given:
Each Division
1st-3rd Team Trophy
MVP Award, MVPitcher Award
14 Champion Awards
10 All Tournament Awards
www.nafafastpitch.com

2012 ISC Canada East Qualifier will be held in Niagara Falls

from Al's Fastball

ISC Canada East and Niagara Fastball are partnering to bring the annual ISC Canada East Qualifier Tournament to Ker Park in Niagara Falls for the weekend of June 15-17.

Entries will be capped at 16 teams for the tournament, which will offer four berths to the 2012 ISC World Tournament. Entries will be prioritized to the first 16 paid teams.

The winning team will receive a paid entry plus travel money while the next three finishers will each receive an unpaid berth.

"We're looking forward to having this tournament at Ker Park and adding another event to the top level of men's fastball that will be played in Niagara Falls this summer," said host committee chairman Rob Greatrix.

Tournament details are as follows:
June 15-17, 2012
ISC Canada East Qualifier
Niagara Falls, ON - Ker Park
Berths: 4 berths to highest finishing Canada East teams
Format: double knockout
Entry Fee & Deadline: $385, payable to ISC Canada East - May 15, 2012 deadline
UIC: Peter Kluszczynski - kluzzy@sympatico.ca

Additional information, including host hotel, will be available in the coming weeks.

Please contact any of the following for more information:

Local Contact: Rob Greatrix - rob@integrityhealth.tv
ISC Reps: Blair Setford - blairjs@rogers.com; Joe Todd - ftode739@rogers.com

New tournament in Oswego

Al's Fastball has an item on a new tournament in Oswego, NY on June 8-10.

Caveman to attend pitching school, not circus school

Fitzroy will be hosting a Softball Ontario CANPitch clinic this spring to help youngers learn basic softball pitching skills. Looks like we are very close to "selling out" with registrations from West Carleton Minor Softball Association players - but if you are interested there may be a spot or two for blog readers' kids. The clinic starts Tuesday March 27 and runs until May 1, once a week at St Michael's School in Fitzroy Harbour. If you have a child interested, contact me at fastball[at]fitzroyharbour.com and I will send you all the details. I am especially looking forward to having the Caveman learning pitching skills and I am hopeful that the instructor has a sense of humour and patience! Fitzroy Junior will also be in attendance.

In order to rest up for this clinic, the entire Fitzroy Fastball Family will be going on a vacation to a sunny destination. The Caveman was asking Mrs. Fastball what there would be for him to do on this trip. He was assured that there would lots of bacon, chicken nuggets, hot dogs and pizza - quite worried about the food! He was also told there was a kids' club, swimming and a hot tub. (Perhaps not surprisingly he likes hot tubbing.) And Mrs Fastball also told him there were shows that we signed up to attend.

"Mommy, what kind of shows did we sign up for?" he asked.

"Well, there is one that is like Cirque de Soleil", she said.

Being familiar with the acrobatics of Cirque de Soleil, his eyes got very big and he got a worried look on his face. Mrs. Fastball asked him "What's wrong, Caveman?"

"But....but....I don't know how to do all that stuff, Mommy!" he said. Apparently the Caveman thought he was signed up to BE IN THE SHOW. Caveman on the trapeze would be pretty good entertainment.

Mrs. Fastball took the kids shopping today to get some warm weather attire. As they were driving into the "big City", they passed a traveller holding a sign and thumbing a ride near the onramp to the west-bound Queensway. Mrs. Fastball didn't pay the dude any mind, but Fitzroy Junior asked her "Mommy, why does that guy have a sign that says call Gary? Who's Gary?" Any guesses on the hitchhiker's destination? First one to get it right in the comments wins bragging rights.

WCMSA and OAFA among award winners from Softball Ontario

Softball Ontario Announces Softball Association Fundamental Excellence Award Winners!

TORONTO, ON - Softball Ontario is pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 Softball Association Fundamental Excellence Awards. A total of twenty-five (25) SAFE Awards were granted, providing training opportunities for more than 300 volunteers across Ontario.

What is a SAFE Award?
A Softball Association Fundamental Excellence Award is an award of $500 for Softball Associations to use in one of four (4) categories:
Volunteer Development
Community Coach Development
Competitive Coach Development
Umpire Development
Softball Ontario’s new SAFE Award recognizes the efforts of local Softball Associations to improve its volunteer base, and helped Softball Associations to train volunteers for the 2012 softball season. The SAFE Awards, along with Softball Ontario’s new Softball Association Fundamental Excellence (SAFE) Star Rating Program, help softball associations across Ontario improve the quality of softball by promoting volunteer development, organizational development, long term player development, and ensuring a strong link with Softball Ontario.

The winners of the 2012 Softball Association Fundamental Excellence Awards are:

For Community Coach Development
Brampton Girls Softball Association
Mississauga North Tigers
Orleans Amateur Fastball Association
Pickering Softball Association
Richmond Hill Minor Softball Association
West Carleton Minor Softball Association
Brantford Minor Softball Association
Nelson Park Softball Association
Bethany Athletic Society – Bethany Minor Softball
Grafton Minor Ball
Alvinston Minor Ball Association
Hickson Parks & Rec
New Hamburg Softball Association

For Umpire Development
Drayton Moorefield Minor Ball
Georgetown Ladies Powerpuff League
Hespeler Minor Softball Association
Grimsby Amateur Baseball Association
Dorchester Girls Fastball
Port Perry & District Minor Softball Association
Waterloo Minor Girls Softball Association
Ayr Minor Softball Association

For Competitive Coach Development
Halton Hawks Girls Fastpitch Association

For Volunteer Development
Oakville Girls Softball Association
Topham Park Minor Softball League
Whitchurch-Stouffville Softball Association

“Softball Ontario’s SAFE Awards and the SAFE Star Rating Program will help us continue to reward great softball associations and set new standards for quality softball programs across Ontario,” said Rory Quigley, chairman of Softball Ontario’s Participation Committee

Thanks to the support that Softball Ontario receives from a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, each organization who is presented with a SAFE Award will receive a commemorative plaque as well as a cheque for $500.00 to support their volunteer training and development initiatives.

In applying for their SAFE STAR Rating, the SAFE Award winning Softball Associations have joined the fifty-five (55) Softball Associations who have applied for a SAFE STAR Rating Applications from across the province, including associations from Windsor, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Barrie, Ottawa, and more. For a complete list of Associations who have joined the SAFE STAR Program, visit www.softballontario.ca.

Softball Ontario is the governing body for the sport of softball in Ontario. Our goal is to promote and develop the sport of softball for its athletes, officials and volunteers by providing programs and services at all levels of competitions.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario. Their mission is to build healthy and vibrant communities throughout Ontario by strengthening the capacity of the voluntary sector, through investments in community-based initiatives.


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