As if the flight halfway around the world wasn’t far enough, a New Zealand under-19 softball team is a third of the way through their 22-day tour across the Prairies.
“It has been long,” admits Leighton Hiko-Smith, a pitcher and second baseman for the team. “A bit different, time change, and looking at all the cars going the other way gives me a big headache."
They arrived in Canada on June 14 and had already made stops in Wadena, Delisle, Shellbrook, and Prince Albert before arriving in Saskatoon to face the under-19 Selects on Tuesday.
"We've come across some pretty hard teams that have put some runs up on us,” said Moana Hibbert, pitcher and outfielder for the team. “[They] put some good games up against us, and some good fights."
“The guys end up being billeted in a lot of the towns with the locals,” said team manager Di Waterhouse, “which is really cool, because then they get to experience Canadian life. Staying in hotels are fantastic, but getting that homegrown feel of Canada, you can’t beat it.”
But it’s far from the first Canadian experience for the ISA Softball Academy. They’ve been playing ball around the world for the last 11 years, and it all began with a trip to Saskatoon.
“We have extended family here, boys who lived with us 14 years ago. So that was the draw card to begin with,” recalls Waterhouse. “We started this because our son wanted to travel overseas. And so dad said, ‘Why not?’ And that's how it all started.”
Over the years, they’ve flown hundreds of boys and girls around the globe to develop softball in New Zealand, and Waterhouse says she doesn’t anticipate that will stop anytime soon.
“We would do 10 tours a year now, and so I can't see it slowing down. It's just getting busier."
The under-19 team will return to New Zealand on July 4.
