Navy blue and red may be their official colours, but based on the way this summer has gone Softball Napanee’s Express may want consider adopting gold with silver trim.
Pretty well every week from mid June through August the sports pages of the Napanee Beaver have been lined with stories highlighting the success of an Express team of all ages and genders. Regional tournaments to qualifiers to provincials to nationals or Eastern Canadians for the older teams have all seen Express teams either claim the top spot or at least be in the running late into the final day. Simply put, the Express have been adding banners to their collection at a rate that would rival MLB’s New York Yankees-though unlike the Bronx Bombers, Napanee is doing it with rosters made up largely of homegrown talent. They also don’t have the unlimited budget of the pin-strippers either, doing quite well for themselves, producing exceptional athletes at a ridiculous per capita rate given their rural population.
Even individuals who may not have a local team to play have still made their mark, getting picked up to help solidify the rosters of other clubs looking to win gold. Given the success of the program, not a bad strategy. Adding an Express player typically means gaining a well-coached athlete who has played before a big crowd with a championship at stake.
Though winning is nothing new for the Express, who have a long history of excelling at the national level, the rate they’ve done it this year has been remarkable. On the boys’ side they’ve earned the highest medal possible at the U12 level, which tops out at provincials, as well as U14 and U16 nationals. The U16 ladies were runner-ups at their provincial grand championship in mid-August, battling their opponents right up until the final at-bat. The U10 and U12 girls posted a strong showing at their provincials as well, even if they didn’t clinch the top spot. The U19 girls will have a chance to add to Softball Napanee’s medal haul this weekend as they take part in the Eastern Canadians, Aug. 22-25 in New Brunswick.
Winning, as they say, doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a direct result of the hard work put in by the volunteer coaches who dedicate their entire summer to the sport. The young athletes are just as responsible, putting in the hard work, practicing the basics throughout the winter to be ready for August when titles are on the line.
Then there’s the community support. Whether its at the Fairgrounds or at tournaments across the country, the community of Greater Napanee always finds a way to cheer on their hometown athletes. A common comment among Express coaches is the boost they get from the overwhelming support of their hometown fans.
Napanee’s success at several levels is an extremely good sign of things to come over the next few summers.
–Adam Prudhomme