For many, spring break destinations include sunny, tropical locales rife with sandy beaches and plenty of sun.
And while a team of 11-year-old softball players are indeed heading south this March, it’s for reasons other than to simply work on their tans.
The South Surrey-White Rock Thunder ‘03 girls fastpitch team is set for an 11-day trip to Ecuador, where they’ll visit six cities, play a handful of games against host teams, and also run softball camps, coaching clinics and donate equipment.
Softball is not a traditional sport in Ecuador – like most South American countries, soccer rules the athletic landscape – but it is growing quickly in popularity, explained Thunder head coach Tracey Cardinal-Mitchell.
Ecuador has, for example, sent a recent under-18 national team to play in the Showcase Division at the Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championships – held every July in South Surrey – and are planning to take part in the 2016 Women’s World Championships, which are also scheduled to take place here next summer.
“At each stop we’ll play softball, but it’s also a cultural tour for our girls, and to show them that it’s important to give back, and help them grow (the sport) in Ecuador,” said Cardinal-Mitchell, who will be making the spring-break journey with daughter, Miranda, and husband Dwayne Mitchell, both of whom are also coaches with the team.
“I know they’re really trying to grow the sport there and they’re very enthusiastic when it comes to (promoting) equality for women in sports.”
The Thunder have been organizing and fundraising for the trip for months, but the seeds of the adventure were planted much earlier.
“It’s been an all-encompassing, daily event since August, but we’ve been talking about doing this trip for about two years,” Cardinal-Mitchell explained. “And the more we talk about it, the more excited the girls get.”
The trip sprung from, of all places, a softball-related Facebook group, where Cardinal-Mitchell began chatting with Paulina Salazar, who works with Ecuadorian sports organization Liga Del Sur.
After chatting with Salazar, Cardinal-Mitchell then met with members of Ecuador’s national program when the aforementioned U18 team was at Softball City during the Canadian Open.
The planning snowballed from there to the point where a six-city, 14,783-km, 11-day whirlwind trip became reality.
It is a costly endeavour, however. In addition to airfare and accommodations, the team also has to hire a bus and a driver while in Ecuador, as travel between cities will be done via the highway. As well, shipping all the donated equipment can be expensive. The team is also bringing school supplies, which will be donated to a local elementary school.
So far, fundraising efforts have included bottle drives; donations and help from both the White Rock-South Surrey Softball Association and the Peninsula business community; and what Cardinal-Mitchell referred to as “bottle shakes” whereby the Thunder players sell chocolate and collect change outside local businesses.
BC Softball, which is based out of Softball City, also cleared out it’s lost-and-found box, donating the contents to the team’s equipment drive.
“We got a lot of gloves and balls, things like that. So many (businesses and groups) have been hugely supportive,” Cardinal-Mitchell explained.
Still, the team is about $10,000 short of its fundraising goals, and have a number of activities planned for the coming weeks.
On Feb. 8, from noon until 4 p.m., the team will be selling chocolate and collecting donations outside Save-On-Foods at Semiahmoo Shopping Centre. On Feb. 22, also from noon to 4 p.m., they’ll do the same outside the South Point Save-On-Foods.
And while fundraising and organizing has been a time-consuming endeavour for members of the Thunder, Cardinal-Mitchell knows it will be worth it.
“It’s going to be a big eye-opener for our girls, an opportunity to experience a different part of the world, and see the difference they can make,” she said.
“I really think this will do wonders for young girls and softball in Ecuador – what a gift to be able to give.”
For more about the Thunder and the team’s upcoming trip, visit www.thunder03fastpitch.ca