By Kevin J. Sabo
For the Advance
With three provincial championship ball teams, and another making it to the semi-finals, the Town of Castor has a lot to be proud of in its 2019 ball program.
The program, which saw nearly 200 children, youth, and adults playing ball at the various levels in 2019, recently received another feather in its cap.
During the annual Baseball Alberta awards on Saturday, Nov. 16th, Castor was named Small Association of the Year.
Baseball Alberta presents the award each year to, “Small, medium and large Associations that throughout the year have shown growth, organization and compliance with the various levels of Baseball Alberta programming.”
“This last season has been an amazing year for many of our teams,” said Castor Rec. Director Natasha Bozek.
In agreement with Bozek is ball coach
“Our last few seasons have been very successful for our team, culminating in the 2019 win at the Western Canadian Championship,” said Bowen.
“We are attracting and developing very good, enthusiastic coaches that are in turn helping to develop and grow our ball program into a formidable entity, that can obviously hold its own against much larger and developed centers.”
Many players in Castor’s ball program come from all over the province, some as far away as Grande Prairie.
Bowen credits the commitment of the volunteer coaches to the success of the program, as well as the players.
“This is a major achievement. It could not happen without the commitment of these volunteer coaches, the parents that understand and commit to the process, and most importantly, the players,” said Bowen.
“The players are the true drivers of the program, and they deserve the most recognition.”
Castor’s ball program will see some growth in the 2020 season, fielding its first U18 AA level ball team, as well as a “very promising” U13 AA level team.
The Town is planning to continue growing the ball programs, as well as upgrading the diamonds, “In an effort to provide an opportunity for all youth to play baseball or softball, and to attract the best players from the area to our programs,” said Bozek.