We鈥檝e all read about the success of the Yellowknife Wolverines in Blackfalds, Alta., earlier this month. They became the first team from the NWT to win a provincial championship of any sort since the Yellowknife Junior Merchants in 2006.
There鈥檚 another team gearing up to hit the road in the coming days and they鈥檙e hoping to emulate that result.
The Yellowknife Merchants, made up of players from the Yellowknife Fastball League, is preparing to take on a provincial championship through Softball Alberta. They鈥檒l do it in the Intermediate Men鈥檚 B division in Calgary from July 28 to 30, where they鈥檒l be one of 10 teams looking to score the banner.
Steve Thomas was one of the catalysts behind getting the team together and he said Yellowknife has always had the capacity to do something like this.
鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to help take a team from Yellowknife down south for as long as I鈥檝e been here,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had good players and I thought travelling would be a good idea.鈥�
Thomas鈥� original idea was to play in a North American Fastball Association (NAFA) tournament. Unlike other circuits such as the International Softball Congress (ISC), which is considered to be the top men鈥檚 fastball loop on the planet, NAFA has certain criteria teams must meet in order to enter certain divisions.
鈥淭hey have pitcher classification and that determines where a team will be playing,鈥� said Thomas. 鈥淵ou won鈥檛 get pitchers like Adam Folkard (from Australia) destroying everyone in your division because it鈥檚 all done on classification.鈥�
The only problem is getting to a NAFA tournament can be quite costly. This year鈥檚 NAFA World Series events are happening in Wisconsin and there simply wasn鈥檛 enough time or money to get the team down to play there, said Thomas.
That meant going somewhere close to home, meaning Calgary was the best option.
Devin Hinchey has also been involved in the organization of the Merchants and he feels now is the perfect time for this current crop of players in Yellowknife to try something big.
鈥淕iven the skill level we have (in the league), all the best players in the league are playing at a really high level,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of interest around (Tommy Forrest Ball Park) with a new team in the league this season and the Wolverines playing part-time, so fastball is super healthy.鈥�
Was it a hard sell to get the players on board? Not one bit, said Hinchey.
鈥淎s with all things, the logistics has been the toughest part,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat do we want to be called? Who can we get as sponsors? What are we doing for fundraising?鈥�
One e-mail following the 2022 league championship to the membership, said Hinchey, was all it took.
鈥淚 had never seen so many replies so quickly,鈥� he said. 鈥淓veryone who got back was completely and fully on board.鈥�
The last time a men鈥檚 team had travelled outside the city to play was to a men鈥檚 recreational tournament in Grande Prairie, Alta., in 2016. Hinchey was a member of that team and there are some who made the trip back then who are making the trip this time around.
鈥淎 lot of the guys want to scratch the itch and play some competitive ball,鈥� he said.
Picking to play in a provincial was strategic in a way, added Hinchey, in that it wasn鈥檛 too late in the season where everyone would鈥檝e been tuckered out, but not too early where players would still be trying to work out the kinks.
鈥淚t gave us two of our tournaments, plus half of our regular season already played, plus time to schedule some practices,鈥� he said.
As for the selection of the team name, Hinchey said it鈥檚 all about paying homage to the past.
鈥淭he Merchants name is very well-known and has a lot of history in Yellowknife,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nyone who鈥檚 lived here long enough will know the success of past Merchants teams and it was our way of tipping the hat to those players who represented Yellowknife in the past and who did it so well.鈥�
All of the Merchants roster will be playing this weekend at the NWT Men鈥檚 Fastpitch Championship in Hay River, followed by an exhibition game against an 鈥渁ll-star team鈥� from the league at Tommy Forrest on July 25.
When asked if there鈥檚 the pressure to match the Wolverines鈥� result earlier this month, Thomas said the hope is that they just don鈥檛 get blown away.
鈥淒on鈥檛 finish last,鈥� he said with a chuckle. 鈥淪eeing what the Wolverines did was awesome and that鈥檚 going to be motivating for them, but I think we鈥檒l hold our own.
