It has been eight years since the North West region (Zone 7) last sent a girls softball team to the BC Summer Games, but thanks to a group of insistent players, including Thornhill鈥檚 Amber Underwood, that has changed in Cowichan this weekend.

Underwood and some of the other girls from the Terrace co-ed league started pushing coach Geoff Watt to put a team together, pressure that increased when it turned out that a boys team from the North West would be competing. Eventually, their persistence paid off.

鈥淲e put it out there to the other softball leagues,鈥� Underwood said.

The North West team drew players from a massive area, including Terrace, Smithers, Prince Rupert, Moricetown, Hazelton and Houston, which came with its own challenges.

鈥淓very second practice was in Terrace, because most of us are from there and our coach is from there,鈥� Underwood related. 鈥淏ut for the others we travelled. There are pictures of us playing in the rain in Prince Rupert.鈥�

Now 16, Underwood has been playing softball since she started T-ball at the age of six.

鈥淚 just think it鈥檚 a fun game. I love team sports. I love being a leader,鈥� said Underwood, who is among her team鈥檚 most vocal players on the diamond and hopes to one day play for a post-secondary softball team.

With no other all-girls teams in the region, the North West team played exhibition games against ladies teams to prepare for the Summer Games. They鈥檝e been impressed with the calibre of play at the Summer Games.

鈥淭he competition is definitely hard down here,鈥� said a wide-eyed Underwood.

The experience as a whole has been worth all the hard work, both in getting a team together and in preparing for the Games like any other team has to.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very exciting. It鈥檚 great,鈥� Underwood said. 鈥淚n our league, there aren鈥檛 too many girls, so it鈥檚 not only empowering, it鈥檚 a great way to make new friends; it鈥檚 a lot more fun.鈥�

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