Sports | DrumhellerMail

Canadian baseball pro to teach Drumheller players

    Children throughout the Valley are stepping up to the plate for another exciting season of the quintessential summer pastime; minor baseball.
   To help kids prepare, the Drumheller Minor Baseball Association is bringing in professional player Geoff Freeborn for a baseball camp.
   “He came up with the idea of smaller communities doing these camps, so he’s coming out here for the very first one,” said Lyle Cawiezel, president of Drumheller Minor Baseball.
   Freeborn was a pitcher for the Canadian Junior national team in 1999 and Team Canada in the 2011 World Baseball Challenge. Freeborn also played with Britain several times in European Championships.
   He will be joined by other professional players Tony Wyllie, Ryan Kennedy, and Garrett Regan.
   The camp is scheduled for May 11 at the Newcastle Ball Diamonds.
   So far this year, the baseball association is looking at two teams. Registration was good, with a tee ball team and rookie team both filled.
   This year also marks a change of direction for Drumheller Minor Baseball. At their most recent annual general meeting, which was held in March, a brand new board was elected.
   “Hopefully we can continue on and make a go of it,” said Cawiezel.
   For more information about minor baseball or the baseball camp, those interested are encouraged to contact Cawiezel at 403-823-9487.

Local players selected for ATB Challenge Cup

    Two area female hockey players will be on the provincial stage at Hockey Alberta’s ATB Challenge Cup.
   The ATB Challenge Cup brings together the top bantam aged players in a provincial showdown with three teams from the North and three teams from the South. The tournament is May 2-5 in Medicine Hat.
   Drumheller hockey player Kierra Scollo, daughter of Rhonda and Carmelo, was selected for the South Flyers and Erica Nelson, daughter of Rod and Danna Nelson of Rumsey was selected for the South Coyotes.
   The tryouts were in Carstairs April 4-6, and the players learned of their selection this week.
   Kierra, 14, is a student at St. Anthony’s School and played her Atom, Peewee and one year of Bantam hockey with Drumheller Miner Hockey’s co-ed teams. She then headed to play for the Strathmore Storm Bantam Female T1 team in the Rocky Mountain Female Hockey League. She has excelled and in her first year, she was named captain.

Kierra Scollo has been chosen to play for the South Flyers in the ATB Challenge Cup in Medicine Hat.

   “It’s awesome,” said Keirra’s mother Rhonda, adding the tournament is a stepping stone to higher levels of hockey and is an opportunity for scouts to assess players.
   “There is going to be more and more opportunities coming out of this,” said Rhonda.
   While Keirra has gone south to play hockey, Erica has headed north.
   Erica, 14, began her hockey career in Morrin when she was 4. She played up to her first year of atom in Morrin, before playing in Drumheller for one season. She played female peewee hockey in Olds, and for the last two seasons played for the Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs Bantam AAA Female team.

Erica Nelson of Rumsey has been selected to play for the South Coyotes in Hockey Alberta’s ATB Challenge Cup.

   “It has been an honor to be selected for the ATB Alberta Challenge Cup. There were 120 girls trying out for three teams. I am looking forward to meeting my new teammates and coaches,” said Erica.
   Hockey Alberta’s U16 Female Program coordinator, Grant Glowinski says the ATB Alberta Challenge has gone through some changes in 2013.
   “The biggest change is the drafting of the six teams from two large Regional Selection Camps, three from the south and three from the north,” said Glowinski. “It promises to bring a whole new level of competition and excitement - something we are all looking forward to.”
   According to a release, the ATB Alberta Challenge Program begins in April every other year with players trying out at the regional selection camps. Each of the 120 athletes playing in the ATB Alberta Challenge is competing for one of 60 invites to the U16 Female Provincial Camp. The U16 Female Provincial Camp is the final stage in the first year of the Team Alberta Program.

Local bowler on a roll

    A local Drumheller resident has been knocking them down, one pin at a time.
   Placing first in provincials this year, Lance Tanke, will be advancing to play in the Master’s against some of Canada’s top bowlers this June.
   “I’m extremely nervous, this is probably the biggest bowling event of my bowling career thus far,” said Tanke.
   After missing provincials by a measly six points last year, Tanke was thrilled when he placed first in this year’s provincial tournament that took place at the Chinook Bowladrome in Calgary.
   “This year I made it quite handily,” said Tanke, who is the youngest bowler on his team of five.
   “At first it was a surprise,” he said.
   Now the 22-year-old has much bigger things on his plate as he must prepare for the upcoming Master’s, which will also be held in Calgary at the Chinook Bowladrome and Paradise Lanes.
   Tanke will be bowling 20 games against 36 other male contenders over a series of four days from the 30th of June until July 3.
   This has been a longtime goal of his, although Tanke was taken by surprise when he found out that he would, in fact, qualify for this year’s nationals.
   “I’ve never been to nationals at all,” said Tanke. “It’s daunting but very exciting.”
   Tanke has been bowling for roughly 17 years, six of which he’s spent working at the Sandstone Lanes bowling alley in Drumheller.
   “I’ve always enjoyed it, before it was strictly for fun, and now it’s fun and competitive,” he said.
   Tanke will have to up his game for the Master’s though, as he will be playing against some of the toughest contenders in the country.
   “I’m probably going to step it up a bit. Knowing that I’m going to nationals, I’ll have to iron some stuff out and make sure I’m comfortable,” said Tanke.
   “For the most part, at this point it’s just a mental game.”

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