{"id":2718,"date":"2008-07-24T05:02:45","date_gmt":"2008-07-24T12:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=2718"},"modified":"2008-07-24T10:53:43","modified_gmt":"2008-07-24T17:53:43","slug":"nb-select-softball-squad-tuning-up-for-2009-north-american-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=2718","title":{"rendered":"NB select softball squad tuning up for 2009 North American Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the Miramichi Leader:<\/strong><\/a>
\nBy Blake Lynch
\nPublished July 23, 2008
\nCopyright Miramichi Leader
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

SOFTBALL\u00e2\u20ac\u201d Rejean Legere has a task ahead of him. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the head coach of the New Brunswick midget fast pitch softball team. He has 35-40 midget aged players registered and over the course of the next year it will be his task to bring that number down to 17 who will represent New Brunswick on a new international stage.<\/p>\n

The squad is preparing for the North American Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Under-19 Fast Pitch Championships that will be held July 20, 2009 in Summerside, P.E.I. The tournament was created by Softball Canada in response to boys softball being cut from the Canada Games program.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was unfortunate that the boys program was cut,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Legere. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153However this tournament looks like it will be an even bigger venue to showcase elite midget level fast pitch softball.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The event will feature a team from every Canadian province with the exception of Yukon and the Northwest Territories, as well as three or four U.S.-based teams and two or three teams from Mexico.<\/p>\n

Playing within the Miramichi Tim Horton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fast Pitch League he hopes to give the players every opportunity to showcase why they deserve a spot on the final New Brunswick roster. The league consisting of older men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s teams has proven to be a tough challenge for the midget aged squad. The calibre of pitching they see on a regular basis from the likes of Jimmy Keenan, Trevor Ryan, and Brandon Gorman will give them a taste of what they can expect from top teams they will face.<\/p>\n

As Softball New Brunswick looks to develop and bring back their programs to the glory of past years the players today are in need of competition and Legere said he is thankful he has a league at his disposal to get some innings in.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Without the Miramichi Tim Horton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s League they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re be no one and no where for us to play,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Legere admitted. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The support from the league and the people of Miramichi has been very promising and we look forward to working with them over the the next few years as we develop this team.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Part of that development will see the squad participate in the 2008 Midget Eastern Canadian Championships the Nelson Softball Association will host later this fall from Aug. 21-24. There are a number of local Miramichi boys looking for a spot on the squad and participating in this tournament. Follow the team and look for future articles highlighting their progress and details of of their development as this national event draws closer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Miramichi Leader: By Blake Lynch Published July 23, 2008 Copyright Miramichi Leader SOFTBALL\u00e2\u20ac\u201d Rejean Legere has a task ahead of him. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the head coach of the New Brunswick midget fast pitch softball team. He has 35-40 midget aged players registered and over the course of the next year it will be his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2718"}],"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=2718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}