Girls softball players in the valley will have a chance this weekend to see what it takeS to continue their career at the college level.

The Drumheller Girls Softball Association has invited the University of Calgary Dynos and the SAIT Trojans to the valley this Saturday. The two teams will be playing a double header at Newcastle Diamonds.

Kent Jensen of the softball association and assistant coach of U14 Pure Venom says this is a great opportunity for the teams.

“One of our coaches is friends with the coach from SAIT, and they had the brainchild that it would be good for some of our girls to see what they could do if they stick with ball when they get to University,” said Jensen.

The games are in fact league games.

The valley has been booming with a resurgence of high quality softball.  Last season Association had a U16 team, a U14 team, two U12 teams two U10 teams and two U8 teams. He says softball is a great team sport, and he feels the players appreciate being on all girls teams.

He says this is a great chance for the young players to not only see top shelf ball, but also meet some of the players.  They are planning to make time available for local players to meet and interact with some of the college players.

The games are this Saturday, September 17 at Newcastle Diamonds with games at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Despite a chilly start, the Dinosaur Half Marathon saw a strong number out for the annual event last Sunday morning.

The homegrown road race featuring a 5k Family run, the Encana 10K race and a half marathon, hit the course for the seventh straight year, and organizers are encouraged by the participation.

Race organizer Jens Madsen said this was the best year ever for registrations in the family walk and run.

“Our registration broke 500, we had close to 250 signed up in the 5k, more than 120 in the half and more than 130 in the 10K,” said Madsen. “That is the best 5K we had by a big margin.”

There was a strong contingent of local runners and from throughout Alberta as well as Saskatchewan. The second place finisher in the half marathon Luc Drolet skipped his home event in Canmore to run in Drumheller.

Winning the half marathon was Chan Yew Woo of Three Hills. Stephan Woodman of Airdrie posted the top 10K time and the fastest 5K runner was Seth Hopman, also of Airdrie.

The race was supported by a strong contingent of volunteers for all aspects of the race. Members of the Rotary Club were on course as marshals as well as volunteering in other capacities. The refreshment stations were loud and proud as they cheered on runners.  Many racers remarked on the spirit of volunteers.

“The core of the race is volunteers,” said Madsen.

There was also great feedback on the course, which, as always, features the beauty of the badlands and the Red Deer River valet.

“We have a very special course.”