The Semiahmoo Peninsula – like the neighbourhoods that surround it, from Cloverdale to Panorama Ridge – is, relatively speaking, a small place.
But year in, year out, the accomplishments of its residents are nevertheless impressive and plentiful, be it in the arts community, business world, athletics or elsewhere.
And this time of year – often referred to as a “dog days” of summer – is when many of the area’s top young athletes shine brightest.
It starts, most years, on the softball and baseball diamonds across Surrey and White Rock, and this year is no exception.
Last month, White Rock and Cloverdale minor baseball teams starting collecting trophies at various tournaments, and regional and provincial championships, and will continue until this coming weekend at least, as a team of White Rock and South Surrey 12-year-old ballplayers look to snag themselves a Canadian Little League championship in suburban Ottawa. For the past week, the team has rolled through the competition with ease – one loss notwithstanding. Should they capture the national crown, they’ll head straight to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
No matter the outcome this weekend, the White Rock team’s summer will be considered a great success – only a handful of teams have made it as far as nationals through the years, and only two in the city’s history have made it as far as Williamsport.
On the softball diamond, the action has been just as exciting, and no less successful.
At the under-18 nationals in Montreal, three area teams – the Delta Heat, White Rock Renegades and Surrey Storm – swept the podium, in that order. In Calgary, the Renegades’ U16 team captured its first-ever Canadian crown, and the Storm’s under-14 squad scooped a national title, too.
Of course, as anyone who has followed the local sports scene for any length of time can tell you, these accolades – and those of their ilk – are not exactly rare here, which makes them even more impressive.
These young athletes, and those that grace our fields, pools, courts and sheets of ice throughout the year, are immensely talented, and some may even go forward to even greater heights, be it university sports, world championships – even Olympic Games.
In the sports world, there exists a colloquialism, “outkicking your coverage” which is meant to describe someone who has, essentially, exceeded all expectations.
There is no shortage of that here.