Kitchener – Civitan Sports – Waterloo Region is thrilled toannounce the Canadian National Women’s Softball Team will be coming toKitchener next July.

 

The women will be gearing up for the Olympics by playing thenational teams of Japan and Australia. They will play a round-robin styletournament at the Peter Hallman Ball Yard from July 6-8, 2008.

 

“We always love having the opportunity to play in Canada”stated Team Canada head coach Lori Sippel. “The organizing committees inOntario have always done a tremendous job for us. The event in Kitchener willnot only help showcase the Canadian team, but also the Japanese and Australiannational teams, who will also be top contenders at the Olympic Games in Beijing.”

 

The Canadian team, including local athletes Kaleigh Rafterfrom Guelph and Alison Bradley from Pinkerton, is currently ranked fifth in theworld based on their finish at the 2006 ISF World Championships.

 

Over the summer of 2007, they have shown they can competewith the teams ahead of them in the world rankings. Canada played very solidgames in 2007, registering wins against Japan (2^nd), Australia (3^rdand China (4^th), and they expect to be in the thick of the battlefor a podium finish in Beijing.

 

Podium finishes in 2007 included a Bronze medal at the WorldCup, a Silver medal at the Pan-American Games, a Silver medal at the China Cupand the Gold medal at the Universiade.

 

The national team will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada in late Januaryto begin centralized training and play several games against NCAA competition.They will then travel to Australia in March where they will continue theirtraining at the site of the 2000 Olympic Games, and play against the Australianand Japanese national teams.

 

April and May are set aside for specialized training beforethe team regroups in early June.

 

After the tournament in Kitchener, the team will compete atthe Canada Cup in Surrey, BC from July 12-20, 2008.

 

More information will be announced as details are confirmed.

 

 

For more information about the tournament, contact:

dfm70@hotmail.com

 

For information about the Canadian Women’s National Teamcontact:

Gilles LeBlanc

Manager - Marketing and Communications Services

Softball Canada

gleblanc@softball.ca

(613) 523-3386 ext. 3105