Strathmore Thunder Fastpitch to host U17 provincials this summer

This summer right before the Strathmore Stampede Strathmore Thunder Fastpitch will be hosting the U17 B provincials.

Tom Clooney, coach of the Strathmore Thunder U17 team explained that there will be 10 teams participating in the event that could bring up to 500 people to the tournament.

He noted that Strathmore Thunder has hosted provincials in town before, one of the most recent times in 2019 for U14 and U16 provincials.

About the U17 team, he said, “They're a great bunch of girls that have all been playing ball for quite some time.”

He explained the team is made up of players from Strathmore, Airdrie, Cluny, Drumheller and Calgary.

There are even four players who he’d been coaching for about four years that have been playing together for close to 8 years.

“These girls have been working hard for years. They are coming together at the right time, and they're looking forward to provincials paying off and being successful there,” said the coach.

He says so far their season has been pretty good.

“They're currently placing second in the Calgary Minor Softball Association or CMSA High School Division 1. With a record of 14 and 4, and they just finished the tournament in Lloydminster this weekend, where they placed fourth,” he said.

Provincials are going to be held at the baseball diamonds at the ag. grounds.

Ryan Schmidt GM of the Strathmore and District Agricultural Society explained, “It will be at the Origin Malting and Brewing quad ball diamonds and so we're excited to be hosting those provincials this year,” he said.

“It is the weekend right before Stampede, so it was pretty hard for us to figure out how to pull it off because we're normally setting that whole area up for Stampede already. But it was such a great opportunity for us to host this event and for the town to take advantage of all these people coming to town,” said Schmidt.

“It’s a wonderful tournament. We wanted to support our local Strathmore Fastpitch and see all these people come to Strathmore.”

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