Principia’s Leavoy coaches for the Canadian National Softball Team
After a full summer spent coaching Canada’s national softball team, head softball coach Ken Leavoy returns to campus, and we are reminded again what an honor it is to have him on our coaching staff.
Coach Leavoy started his summer with the junior and senior Canadian national softball teams in mid-May when they held the western and eastern evaluation and selection camps. The junior national team is comprised of athletes that are 19 and under, whereas the senior national team has no age limit. The western camp was held first in Vancouver where players were evaluated and then notified if they had been selected to come to the final camp later in June.
In early June, Leavoy headed to Ontario for the Eastern camp which was then followed immediately with the final camp where the junior national team was chosen and the senior national team was narrowed down as well. During the evaluation and selection camps, coach Leavoy was a coach, he helped to run drills and he was another set of eyes for the evaluation process.
Immediately after the junior national team was selected, the team began practicing and one week later they headed to the world championships. During this time, coach Leavoy was one of two scouts who helped the junior national team by scouting their opponents since they had very little information about the teams they were playing. After a few days of scouting for the junior team, Leavoy had to leave to go down to Oklahoma to meet up with the senior team as they prepared for the US World Cup tournament.
In Oklahoma, the senior national team played well and actually beat Japan, who was ranked #1 in the world! Overall, the team finished 4th, which is their actual ranking in the world as well. From there the team travelled to Vancouver for the Canadian Open tournament, which is much bigger than the World Cup. This tournament has several more national teams, due to the fact that it is more established as a tournament.
The Canadian senior national team finished 4th at the Canadian Open, Japan was first, Australia was second and the U.S finished third. The team finally had a few days off after an extremely busy summer, and then in early August they met in Miami and flew to Puerto Rico for the Pan American Qualifier. This tournament included teams from North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean Islands. Fifteen countries were represented at these games, and it was very competitive. The top five teams qualify for the World Championships in 2014. The top five also qualify for the Pan American Games in 2015.
The Canadian team looked much different this year because they had several players retire after last season, including several great hitters, both catchers from last year, and one of their top pitchers. The team’s best player unfortunately broke her leg in an exhibition game prior to the Pan America games. Although there were many new faces, the team attacked the season and these games like they were there for a purpose! They rallied together and came out strong! The team finished up second behind the United States, which allowed them to qualify for the World Championships and the next Pan America games.
Coach Leavoy expressed how grateful he was for the rest of the coaching staff. He comments, “We all got along really well, it was a lot of work, but we had some fun too.” When asked what stood out to him this summer; Leavoy remarked, “Representing your country is very meaningful, I’m very proud of it. What stands out about this group is how gritty and determined they were. To have lost several players to retirement and then to lose our best player and still accomplish what they did…it was amazing to see them rally around each other and get it done. I was really proud of them.”
Coach Leavoy coaches for both Principia College and Principia Upper School. The high school season is in the fall and the college team is in the spring. Make sure you congratulate coach Leavoy when you see him, and come out to support his teams!
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