Organization Preview: Red Deer Rage
/ GPLS.ca |
Organization Preview: Red Deer Rage
Last year, the Red Deer Rage had a record year for the number of players who signed up to play softball.
A year later, that record has already been rewritten, as the organization saw an 11 per cent increase in registration, with around 260 players coming out to play softball on one of their teams.
It has created some interesting challenges, but having too many kids is something Rage president Dan Kusk would rather have than not enough.
“There are always challenges that come with growth,” said Kusk. “But in the long run, it’s about the kids. And if there is more opportunity for them to play, the more the merrier. If we keep growing, we’ll just have to figure it out.”
With nine teams between U10 and U18, Red Deer will be highly competitive in Girls Prairie League Softball (GPLS) this season, as they pick their teams on an evaluation method with independent evaluators, as opposed to allowing coaches to freely pick their team or by birth year.
While there have been some teams that could have played birth years, Kusk said the Red Deer policy is to pick the first eight players based on evaluation, with the top skilled playing on the A teams.
But that doesn’t mean their B teams are second best, as Kusk said the skill level this season could see some B teams making large provincial pushes of their own, as some are just as good as A teams.
“Our policy has always been to do this evaluation process and put the best team forward,” said Kusk. “We try to remind our kids, this is tough town to make a team because there are so many kids. There is no shame in playing B in Red Deer, because in a lot of cases, a lot of the B teams could probably compete with a lot of A teams, they just don’t have that letter.
“So we really try to stress that to the kids and parents. It’s not about the letter behind the (age).”
The Rage have put in an effort to promote the sport of softball, running a grassroots program for a number of years, which has included a program called ‘Bring a Buddy’, which gets team members to bring a friend to try out the sport and expose them to something new.
With active social media accounts and cross promotion with ringette, it has seen their numbers climb to record numbers.
As far as performance on the field this season in the GPLS, Red Deer has faired well over the last couple of seasons, but Kusk said they don’t set expectations on their teams, other than to support the league and to represent the organization and city to the best of their ability.
There are still sights set on Westerns and Nationals for some of their teams, as the U16 team will for another appearance after going to Nationals last year.
“We hope to participate in as much post-provincials as we qualify for,” said Kusk. “We’ll send a full gambit of teams to provincials and a U10 team to a jamboree as well. It was a great opportunity for the kids.”
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