When Lauren Marshall steps onto first base, her mind is racing to keep up with all the action that happens during a softball game - and she expects no different when her team competes against players across the globe in an upcoming tournament.
The 14-year-old first baseman said she's both nervous and excited for her North Shore Stars team to play in the women'sonly Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship from July 11 to 21 in Surrey, which will include teams from across North America and abroad.
"I'm expecting my team to do really well because we're third in the league play, in standings," Marshall said about her North Shore Stars 99 team. "I'm really excited for it, and I think we're going to do pretty well. I'm kind of nervous, but I'm really excited, as well, at the same time."
Softball is one of the three sports Marshall plays on a regular basis, and she's been playing it for eight years. She and her teammates practise almost year round, two to four times a week for one to two hours.
"I like how every play you have to think about it and where you're going to go next, how many outs there are and what the pitch count is and everything about the game," Marshall noted. "You have to think a lot in this game. I like that. It's my passion."
North Shore Stars coach Casey Anderson agrees. He said the girls have been working really hard for the upcoming international tournament.
"I've been trying to tell them how big this tournament is," he said. "I think if we're all healthy, we can do very well."
The fastpitch tournament began under a different name in 1993, with only 10 teams participating. Since then, the tournament evolved and this year 92 teams from as far as Mexico, New Zealand and Japan are coming out to the ball game.
Greg Timm, chairman of the Canadian Open Fastpitch Society organizing the championship, said it all started to give women's teams an opportunity to travel, just like men's sport teams.
"It's a real tribute to what's happening with women in sports because lots of countries now are becoming more enlightened," he said. "While they used to travel their men's teams all the time, the women's teams weren't travelling and now it's starting to happen."
The fastpitch world of softball is gaining momentum, and the 1,300 athletes coming out to play in more than 350 ballgames is a testament to that, Timm noted.
"It's our thought that a lot of the players in our tournament don't grow up with a hero," he said. "When I grew up, I wanted to be Ken Dryden, the goalie for the Montreal Canadiens, but that doesn't happen so much in female sports. It was our concept that we did that and it has been such a tremendous success."
As for 15-year-old Emma Anderson, also a North Shore Stars team 99 player, she's excited to represent her North Shore Girls Fastpitch Association in the upcoming tournament. She says it's important for girls to play sports.
"Play softball, or even just play a sport to be active," she said. "You're fit and you meet new people. It's very challenging and it's fun."
For more information on the tournament, visit canadianopenfastpitch. com. To learn more about the North Shore Girls Fastpitch Association, visit nsgfa.sites.teamsnap.com.
