The junior softball season has wrapped up, and the Smithers Smokescreen Peewee baseball team will be on their way to Cloverdale in two weeks for Provincials. League vice-president Bill Jex said the team will be playing in the C division, since it’s the first time the Smithers Junior Softball League has sent a team to the provincials.
“Hopefully next year we’ll have a few other teams in other divisions as well,” he said.
Jex said the play between all the teams this year was excellent, and very evenly matched, thanks to a draft based on player evaluations done by coaches at the end of last season.
“We were really competitive amongst the teams,” he said. “We ended up with really balanced teams. Through our league year, on any given night any team could have won the game. So that was really good, because it keeps the kids focused.”
Of the other goals set for the league, two teams still need sponsors for the 2012 season, and new coaches and umpires are always welcome. Although the league had hoped to send three teams to provincials, part of the problem was finding extra coaches for the summer season.
“We’re certainly looking for parents or people that are interested in taking a coaches clinic,” said Jex. “Usually what happens is the coaches advance through the system with their kids.”
The list of available youth umpires was solid this year as well, except on nights when most of them happened to be playing.
“We had some really good kids umpiring this year, and all of them said they want to come back next year,” he said.
Jex said he’s already looking for potential coaches and umpires for next year, and the league will offer coaching and umpiring clinics for anyone interested next spring. Along with those clinics will be the pitcher/catcher clinics, the key to improving the odds of having a solid girls program in coming years.
“We have enough girls in a couple divisions if we could get a couple of them throwing the ball,” he said.
This year’s clinics had nine pitchers at the squirt and mite level, and seven from peewee, bantam and midget.
“Those people all pitched this year, and they all did well. For the most part they were happy with their performance,” said Jex.
Anyone that might be interested in advance notice for next year’s clinics can call Bill Jex at 250-847-3460.