Image Credit: Softball Canada

By Adam Donnelly

TOKYO 202ONE

Softball Canada Women’s National Team prepares for Tokyo Olympic Games

May 28, 2021 | 4:55 PM

KAMLOOPS — The last time softball was included in the Olympic Games was in 2008 in Beijing. Heading into those games, the IOC had already decided the sport wouldn’t be included in the 2012 London games.

In 2020, Softball was back on the Olympic programme – or at least it was supposed to be. However, the pandemic threw another wrench into things for Team Canada – but now, the best 15 softball players from across the country and beyond are in Illinois, preparing for the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo – which are set to get going July 21st.

CFJC Today spoke with two Team Canada athletes and a head coach after the squad was officially named earlier this month.With one big swing of Kaleigh Rafter’s bat, Team Canada earned its place in the Softball Tournament at the Tokyo Summer Olympics. The 2020 games would have been the first time softball had been in the Olympics since 2008 in Beijing. Then along came COVID-19.

“When the pandemic hit and the IOC made the decision to postpone the games, one of the first things we did as a staff was we contacted athletes and gave them a week to decide if they wanted to continue with the process,” . “Within a week – in fact, it didn’t last a week – every player came back to us and said they’d talked to their significant other. They wanted to do this, they were committed to it.”

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For these athletes, that meant spending more months away from their families and loved ones, as they trained and prepared for the best competition in the world. Lauren Regula, formerly Bay, is one of four members of Team Canada that has played in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. She feels this team is the best she’s been a part of.“This would be the most cohesive team I’ve ever played with in a Canada uniform in terms of saying ‘hey, what can I do to make you better?’,” Regula says. “I’d put us as one of the best [pitching] staffs in the world, and I can’t wait to get out there and show the world just how far Team Canada softball has come.”

With a solid core of veterans leading the way for Canada, there has also been an infusion of young talent in recent years. Kelsey Harshman grew up in Arizona but has a family legacy of representing Canada on the diamond. Her Mom and two of her aunts have all suited up Softball Canada.

“I don’t necessarily want to call it tradition, because you don’t HAVE to play on Team Canada to be accepted into the family,” Harshman says. “I’m not more loved by Grandma or Grandpa.”

Harshman, who was a standout for the University of Wisconsin from 2015 to 2018, is one of the young players who is helping move the program forward. Growing up, she remembers the impact watching the ‘08 Olympics had on her athletic path.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like [softball] is going to be in the 2024 [Olympics]. Hopefully, we can have a great Games and get a lot of great reviews, because the sport is just truly so special,” Harshman says.

There’s a solid core of British Columbia talent on the team. Harshman has roots in Delta, BC, while five other players originate in the Lower Mainland. Regula is originally from the Trail, a town known for churning out elite athletes like her brother, and former Major Leaguer, Jason Bay.

“Being from a small town, sometimes it can maybe be harder to get out there because we’re a little more isolated,” Regula says. “I also think it’s a great opportunity to show that it doesn’t matter where you come from. You can still make it to the world’s biggest stage. You’ve just got to put your head down and work really hard. I’m so proud to be from Trail and still have those roots there.”

In four appearances, Team Canada has yet to earn a medal at the Summer Olympics. However, recent success against perennial powerhouses Team USA and Japan have Team Canada confident it can compete with the top nations, and earn a place on the podium in Tokyo.

“We’ve slayed the giant if you will. The players that were perhaps reluctant to say they were intimidated by the US [team] no longer fear the United States,” Smith says. “We respect them, they’re a very talented team. But we’re not afraid of them. The same with the Japanese [team], they’re very talented. But we go into the Olympics as equals. We think we’re just as capable as they are of being on the centre podium on the last day. That’s our goal and expectation. When I look at the talent we have and the way this team has matured over the last couple of years, there’s no reason in the world we shouldn’t expect to come home with a goal medal.”