Years of intense practice are starting to pay off for former Drumheller resident, Cersten Peters, since she was recruited to play for the Calgary Xtreme U18 “A” girl’s fast pitch softball team this season.
The Xtreme softball team consists of girls from Calgary and surrounding rural areas under the age of 18. They will start their regular season in the Calgary Women’s Fastpitch Association (CWFA), playing at a Division 1 level.
“It’s definitely been a goal of mine just to be on an A caliber team or a highly dedicated and committed team for sure,” said Peters, who has devoted six years of her life to softball, playing for teams like the Drumheller Venom and the Canadian Adrenaline Fastball Association (CAFA) U18 team.
After trying out for the Xtreme softball team in October last year, she heard the news on Christmas day that she would get to play for the U18 team this year.
“They are a bunch of great girls and they were really welcoming,” said Peters. “They didn’t show me a cold shoulder coming in to play as the new person.”
With team practices on Sunday nights, pitcher’s and catcher’s training on Mondays and team conditioning on Thursdays, Peters said the level of training and commitment that she has experienced in her short time with the Xtreme team is unparalleled to that of previous teams she’s played for.
“It’s a lot more intense,” she said. “Every inning has a strategy. It’s not like you can just go out there, throw the ball, and hope for the best.”
Off-season training for the Xtreme U18 softball team started in October and runs until the beginning of the regular season in April.
The team will play their first tournament of the year indoors in Edmonton on April 21 before the regular season commences on April 30.
All regular season games will take place at the Shouldice four-plex in Calgary with double-header league games being played every Tuesday evening.
