Sawyer Dahl left the softball diamond at Freeman Park having solved one of the mysteries of the game.
She now knows how to slide, a critical skill for any base runner - even when you're just eight years old.
Dahl and about 40 other girls who play in the Prince George Minor Girls Softball mite(under-10) division spent 90 minutes on the field learning softball skills from the older girls who play rep softball for the Prince George peewee B Thunderbirds.
For Dahl, who started playing softball three years ago, the skills clinic on Wednesday was a worthwhile experience which nurtured her love of the game.
"Sliding is really fun and I never knew that sliding was that important - I never knew how to slide," said Dahl. "At first, I was falling on my butt but now I really get it. I was a bit afraid at first.
"I learned how to pitch differently and cool techniques with throwing and swinging the bat. When we batted (in the drills) I think I was hitting the ball harder than I normally would, so I think I improved on that too."
They learned some of the T-birds' dugout cheers, and the importance of knowing how to generate a little team spirit wasn't lost on Dahl.
"It's supportive for your team when you cheer," she said.
They covered some of the basics, like how to hold a bat and swing properly, how to use two hands to catch, and how to anticipate fly balls, and were also reminded of some of the rules. Divided into groups, they ended the evening with a cheer-off and base race to see which group could get around the basepaths first.
The efforts of the peewees to put some more fun into the game made it enjoyable for Emma Connelly, nine, who was there with her 10-year-old cousin Paige.
"The sliding was my favourite - it was really fun but I wasn't very good at it at all," said Connelly, a fourth-year player on the Green Goblins. "You have to land a certain way but I can't do it. I learned when you're swinging the bat you have to swing level, not down like you're cutting cheese, or up trying to hit the clouds. You have to slice right through like you're slicing a watermelon."
Emily's mom, Sandy Connelly, grew up in Prince George playing softball but skills clinics put on by a team of volunteers did not exist when she was a kid.
"The kids really enjoyed it and they like having the older kids there so they can see what they can strive for if they want to keep going with ball," said Sandy. "When you see it from a kid, instead of an adult, your perspective changes. It's not so strict. I think what they've done is good for the kids and it's good for the older kids to help out."
The T-birds put on two clinics in June for the mites before their games later in the evening. They're getting ready to play in the peewee B provincial championship, July 17-19 in Ridge Meadows.
"It's good to get the girls knowing what they're doing in different strategies that will get them better at things they'll continue to do and we can keep on teaching them annually," said T-birds player Courtney Edgson, 13. "They all want to improve and learn new things to try to improve themselves. I actually know how to coach someone now. I remember things you're not supposed to do and you determine their bad habits and stop them right away."
Peewee T-birds head coach Jess Hudson made participation in the mite skills clinic mandatory for all her players. The T-birds were also required to take an introductory umpire's course to give them a better understanding of the rules.
"It wasn't that long ago that these girls were at this age range," said Hudson. "The kids listen better to their peers than they do to mom and dad, who are in the coaching situations now. They pick up a lot from this and it's good for our girls to give back. When they teach something it just strengthens their own knowledge of it."
Hudson says it's been a long time since Prince George had a team competing for the peewee B title, after years as a C-level team. The T-birds are the only U-14 girls B team in the north central Interior.
"They were doing very well as a U-14 C team in the previous years but we've gone up a level to some big competition," said Hudson. "In Vancouver they have a circuit, but here we grab on to what we can play. We play the older girls when we go to Quesnel and we play the older girls in the house league here as well."
There are four teams in the mite house league this year. The biggest division is squirt (under-14), with five teams. All five will be in action this weekend with two Quesnel teams at the regional squirt playoffs at Freeman Park. Games started Friday afternoon and will resume today and Sunday at 8 a.m. The bronze-medal game is scheduled for noon on Sunday, followed by the gold-medal game at
2 p.m.
