The Lac La Ronge Indian Band Rookie Softball/Baseball League wrapped up play on Saturday at the JRMCC.
The league partnered with the Toronto Blue Jays Care Foundation this year and the winning team was Sucker River. For their efforts, Sucker River will get to travel to Toronto next year to watch a Blue Jays game.
“They will get a chance to sit in the Jays Care Community Clubhouse,” said Alex Mohamed, a program specialist with the Jays Care Foundation. “I think for some of these kids who have never, maybe never left their communities, for some of them — the first time flying on a plane, it will be an overall experience, maybe something that most of them will probably remember for the rest of their lives.”
Rachael MacDonald served as the coach of the Sucker River team. She says they were shocked they were able to come out on top.
“We didn’t really expect that (to win), we expected that another team would beat us,” said MacDonald. “It’s really exciting, these kids worked their butts off.”
Throughout the season, points were awarded to teams for various things.
“It started in June, so basically, each week if they had a practice, they got 25 points for example,” said Mohamed. “If they had a home game and they were hosting someone, and they prepared food, that would be 50 points. If elders came to games, they got 20 points. Basically, every kid that came out to a game or practice, there were points awarded for that. Nothing involved around winning games or the skills involved, but rather the number of people that you can bring out to the games or how involved your community got.”
La Ronge, Stanley Mission, Sucker River, Little Red River, Grandmother’s Bay and Hall Lake competed in the league this year.
Meantime, four players from each community will also take part in a tournament in Winnipeg in September.
(PHOTO: Sucker River celebrates its win. Photo courtesy of the Jays Care Foundation.)