Latest news with #sportsrevival
CTV News
17 hours ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Fastball revival: Sport making comeback in rural Southwestern Ontario communities
Once a fixture in every rural Southwestern Ontario town, the sport of fastball is making a comeback. 'Five years ago a bunch of fastball dads said, 'You know what? We need to revive this sport for the kids again,'' said Charles Annett, who is co-coach of the Fingal Storm U20 team with Brent Dawdy. 073025 - FASTBALL REVIVAL ONTARIO Coaches Charles Annett (left) and Brent Dawdy (hitting) have helped revive Fastball in Fingal, Ont. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) In Fingal, a small community in Southwold Township, they've slowly brought the sport back. Just a few years ago they didn't have any youth teams and now they have five. 'It feels really special,' says Benjamin Carr, 20, a shortstop for Fingal Storm U20. 'We get to play our home games on Thursday nights, and there's a lot of kids that come out and watch us wearing a Fingal jersey. It feels cool to be a role model for them, and also to bring fastball back to these rural communities to represent Southwold and also the Municipality of West Elgin and everywhere else.' This U20 squad is made up of players from all over the region, who came together just after the pandemic to form a team. 'It just feels great to see the sport coming back,' said Eric Van Maanen, the Storm Centrefielder. 'All the young kids playing here in Fingal now which I haven't seen in a long time. For the longest time we were the youngest age group playing fastball.' 073025 - FASTBALL REVIVAL ONTARIO Eric Van Maanen makes a leaping catch in Centrefield during practice in Fingal, Ont. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) For anyone who hasn't seen the sport at a high level, it's a game of speed and power, played on a small field. 'It'll be a very fast game compared to what you're thinking of with MLB,' said Van Maanen. 'Everything's so much closer and smaller. In my opinion, it's faster and more entertaining to watch.' The U20 group which started this revival five years ago, has qualified for the National Championship. They are currently competing in Saskatoon, Sask., with the finals being played Aug. 3. 073025 - FASTBALL REVIVAL ONTARIO The Fingal Storm U20 team is in Saskatoon, Sask. playing in the Canadian Fastball Championships. (Source: Fingal Storm U20) 'This is the first time headed to the Canadian National tournament, and we're really fired up about it,' said Carr. 'We're really close friends and we've been playing together for over six years now, so we built a good relationship with each other, and the chemistry's good.' Annett loves coaching these young men because they have an infectious energy. 'I like the young attitude they have,' said Annett. 'They come to the park every day trying to win ballgames, but they're also learning at the same time. They listen well and they're not afraid to try some adventurous things. Sometimes you got to rein them back in, but this group loves the game as much as the coaches do, and it's kind of fun.' The Storm will play six games before the playoffs begin. 'It's a once in a lifetime experience and they're pretty pumped for it,' said Annett.
CTV News
15-06-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Amid dwindling membership, Quebec's lawn bowling champ looks to grow the sport
Lawn bowling is seeing new life in Pierrefonds, where champion Ryan Craig and fellow members are working to revive the sport and attract a new generation of players. When Ryan Craig moved from Northern Ireland to Pierrefonds three years ago, one of the first things he did was join a lawn bowling club. 'I came through the game at a young age because of my grandmother,' said Craig. 'She was an international coach for Ireland. And she gave me some coaching, and I just fell in love with the game.' Craig won the Quebec Men's Single Lawn Bowling championship several weeks ago and will be going to compete in the national championship in Edmonton this summer. 'The trophy was first played for in 1925. And that was a pretty special moment to win that,' he said. The game of bowls, also known as lawn bowling, traces its roots back to ancient Egypt. It flourished in Scotland and, from there, was exported around the world, including to Quebec, where it was once a popular sport. In the last few decades, Craig said lawn bowling clubs have struggled to stay alive. 'We've probably gone from 2500 members down to 500 playing members. We used to have around 11 or 10 clubs. Now we are down to five.' The city owns the Pierrefonds Lawn Bowling Club, but it is mostly run by volunteers who organize fundraisers throughout the year. Membership is around $150 for the year and is open to all ages. 'It's low impact, so that is the nice part. Anybody can do it,' said member Carolyn McGarr. 'I'm also a curler, and it's it's a different type of sport, but the strategy is exactly the same.' McGarr said it is also a social game, and it offers company to those who may be isolated. 'During the pandemic, we lost a lot of members to Covid, and it allowed their spouses to have somewhere to go, somewhere to share their feelings and their loss,' she said. Member John Devlin said it's important to introduce the sport to children at a young age. 'Once they see it and try it, they'll be hooked,' he said. 'We need to try and get away from the perspective that it's an old person's game.'
