{"id":1206,"date":"2006-08-30T12:36:04","date_gmt":"2006-08-30T20:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=1206"},"modified":"2006-09-02T09:15:05","modified_gmt":"2006-09-02T17:15:05","slug":"ellsworth-makes-team-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=1206","title":{"rendered":"Ellsworth Makes Team Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

A nice piece in the PEI newspaper about Jeff Ellsworth, who played in the recent ISC World Tournament for the Kegel Black Knights of Fargo, N.D. and is playing this week with the Charlotteown PEI team in the Sr. Canadians. Click here to see the actual article with photo of Jeff.<\/a><\/p>\n

By ERIC MCCARTHY
\nThe Journal-Pioneer<\/strong>
\nAugust 24, 2006<\/em><\/p>\n

ALBERTON \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Outfielder Jeff Ellsworth of Alberton was not sounding the effects of sleep deprivation Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sleep last night,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. And it was all because of a call he received Tuesday morning notifying him of his selection to Softball Canada\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 2006 senior men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national team. <\/p>\n

Seventeen of Canada\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best male players, including Ellsworth, will represent Canada at the Pan American championships in Mexico Sept. 29-Oct. 9.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was just bouncing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ellsworth said.<\/p>\n

Then he had to wait for Softball Canada to break the news Wednesday before he could share his excitement.<\/p>\n

But Mexico is just part of the journey for Ellsworth. He is still one step away from realizing his ultimate sporting goal \u00e2\u20ac\u201d playing for Canada in the 2009 International Softball Federation world championship.<\/p>\n

Making the 2006 national team puts him on course for that goal. The 2006 Pan Am championships serve as a qualifying tournament for 2009 world championship.<\/p>\n

Ellsworth, 28, is the fourth youngest player on Team Canada and one of only two players from Atlantic Canada. The other is Tim Macumber from Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n

ONE OF 40 PLAYERS<\/p>\n

Ellsworth was one of 40 players named to the athletes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pool in January. Team Canada was selected from that pool.<\/p>\n

Prior to making the athletes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pool, Ellsworth and other Team Canada hopefuls attended an evaluation camp in July 2005 and were also evaluated at the 2005 ISC world and Canadian championships.<\/p>\n

Prospects attended an ISC-sanctioned tournament in Saskatchewan in June and a tournament in Orillia, Ont., attracted eight of the top 10 teams in the world.<\/p>\n

Ellsworth leaves Friday for Prince George, B.C., where he will play for the Charlottetown Fawcetts in the Canadian senior men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fast pitch championship.<\/p>\n

Since he has made Team Canada, Ellsworth has decided against an offer to play in Australia during Canada\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s winter months. Instead, he will concentrate on staying in shape and working to hold onto his Team Canada spot.<\/p>\n

Ellsworth has been playing ball since he was five. His parents, Sheila and Melvin Ellsworth from St.
\nLawrence, coached him for his first 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They are the reason I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n

Ellsworth checked prices Wednesday for flights to Mexico and airfare would cost in the $800 range.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If Mom finds out they are only $800, she might be there,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he commented, adding that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d love for her to attend.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hopefully we can bring home the gold.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Team Canada will hold a camp in Las Vegas from Sept. 23-28 and will fly to Mexico on Sept. 29.<\/p>\n

wbureau@journalpioneer.com<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A nice piece in the PEI newspaper about Jeff Ellsworth, who played in the recent ISC World Tournament for the Kegel Black Knights of Fargo, N.D. and is playing this week with the Charlotteown PEI team in the Sr. Canadians. Click here to see the actual article with photo of Jeff. By ERIC MCCARTHY The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,1,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}