Grant-A-Week WINNER
Elkfor "Thunder" Bantam Fastball

The Elkford "Thunder" is a dedicated group of 15-16 year olds that just love to play fastball. The group is composed of girls from Elkford B.C. and the Crowsnest Pass in Alberta.

The diversity of the group lead to great things throughout the season, to new friendships and learning experiences. The season started out rocky for the team, as the number of girls bounced around. The dedication from the core group however convinced the other less dedicated girls that we truly would have a lot of fun, and learn a great sport at the same time.

With four coaches the ball playing experience and varied teaching methods reached all the girls. The team played in the Alberta league, even though Elkford is in B.C. We were labelled "bonafide residents", as the town is so near the Alberta border. The travelling through-out the season was extensive and often very tiring, but the girls hung in there.

The first rule that we had as coaches was that marks in school needed to be maintained, and that the girls could never use fastball as an excuse for absenteeism or late assignments. This worked and over half the team made the end of the school year honour roll.

Our season ended with a trip to the Bantam "C' Provincials in Coronation, Alberta. There we learned not only how well we could play fastball, but we also learned that girls fastball played a pretty important roll in a lot of young women's lives. We actually surprised ourselves by winning the Bronze medal game against the hometown of Coronation. What a thrill for us all!! We are quite sure that our awesome cheering really pepped up the entire crowd as well as our spirits and helped us bring in those runs.

The coaching staff were very pleased with the effort and teamwork displayed by all the girls and wanted to once again thank players for a great year. The "Thunder" would also like to thank everyone in Coronation, Alberta for a great weekend of fastball.

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