The Carnarvon Falcons are on the way to provincials
The U14 girls played eight games taking the long way to the finals after an early loss in round robin play at district finals. It meant four back-to-back games on knockout Sunday to finish second in the 12-team tournament.
“We played games every two hours. The girls did excellent,” said coach Donny Leong.
“It was one of our major team goals. At the beginning of the year we had a bit of a challenge with a lot of new players,” he added. “We had a goal to play .500 ball all year.”
Heading into district championships they added a higher bar – provincials.
The Falcons, who play out of Fireman’s Park in Oak Bay, boast an unusual 15-player roster, but they’ve made it work.
“We have a good mix of kids. We have kids from five different schools,” he said. “We try to keep kids playing. That’s always the goal of a sport in house league.”
With a smaller population pool to draw from, it’s a task to develop a talented team.
“It’s rare for Oak Bay to send girls teams to the provincial championships because there’s just not that many kids to pull from,” he said. “We’ve been able to keep a core group of girls playing together for four years.”
They kept a solid core, and added the new players over the years, winding up with one team bearing 15 kids and as the year went on, their confidence grew.
“Every player played better,” Leong said. “We’ve built on our success slowly. Three years ago, we won the B division; last year, we won the city championship; this year it’s provincials. It’s little tiny steps every year as we get a little bit older.”
Only a lack of funds to cover the unexpected cost of travel and equipment can stop them now, said Leong. The Carnarvon U14 Falcons hope to raise funds to help parents cover the costs of the trip to Ridge Meadows for the tournament July 4 to 6.
“We’re trying to fundraise to cover travel, hotel, some equipment,” Leong said. “Things you worry about when you’re a house team.
Donate to the Carnarvon ball club online at carnarvonbaseball.com attention of the Falcons.