The Antigonish Molson
Canadians Women's Fastpitch team

The Antigonish Molson Canadians Women's Fastpitch team is a newly formed team for the 2002 summer softball season. In a small community in Nova Scotia, the sport of softball has been a popular onethroughout the years, but has been on the decline over the past decade. Women's fastpitch softball in particular, has not been in existence in Antigonish since 1994. Through a collaborative effort on the part of 5 local female softball enthusiasts, the interest in women's softball has been revived. The team participates in the local 7-team Pictou County Womens Recreational Fastpitch league, and has 20 players and 2 coaches.

The CAAWS/Nike MVP grant has been a substantial contribution to the start-up costs required by the newly formed team. It has helped in covering the costs of league registration, provincial registration, field rental & light costs, umpiring, and in particular towards the purchase of softball equipment. Equipment such as batting helmets, protective catchers' equipment, bats and balls are necessary in order for the team to safely and effectively participate in the league.
Team members have already begun promoting the team and the sport of fastpitch softball to the local community, and will continue to do so throughout the summer, in the hopes of recruiting more female softball players. Their aim is to ultimately establish a womens fastpitch league in Antigonish and surrounding areas for the summer of 2003 or 2004. Once girls have finished playing minor softball (age 18-19) there are no local fastpitch teams in the area for them to play on and continue enjoying their sport. The Antigonish Molson Canadians aim to change this.

Many of the team members are coaches, mothers, sport leaders and role models themselves. Many women have coached and still do coach minor softball or school softball teams, there are women who are umpires, and who serve as division heads and minor coordinators for the local minor softball association. One team member is the provincial Minor Girls Coordinator and also serves on a Softball Canada minor committee whose mandate is to increase minor softball participation and promote the fun of the game. Through all these roles, team members give back to the sport as much as they can, and they serve as leaders to young, up and coming softball players. The team is hosting a junior softball skills clinic this summer for the young girls of the community where they will be taught basic softball skills, and where a new innovative form of softball called 'blastball' will be used, which simplifies the game for children and adds more fun.

Through the extensive involvement in and commitment to the sport of softball by the team members of the Antigonish Molson Canadians, they all hope to serve as role models for younger girls participating in softball and to encourage new girls, teenagers and women to start playing fastpitch softball, no matter what age. With the presence of the one women's fastpitch team in Antigonish they aim to encourage and increase female participation and get women and girls more active in softball, a lifelong sport that anyone can enjoy for years to come!

Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity contact us