Dedicated volunteers spell success for Norcrest Little League

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As noted in this week’s story about Norcrest Little League, Vice President Carin Jensen took her current role in 2022 and assembled a board of directors in an effort to reinstate the league’s society status. She was intent on giving credit to those who have come alongside her.

  She said her networking paid off. “I found Nathan Pauls and Jordan Brown who were interested in coaching and then Ryan Diloreto as well for the Major team. Then Dave Kimoto, Jake Ilczynski, and Ben Finlayson stepped up to take on the Minor age kids. The summer (2022) ended up being a steep learning curve and actually quite the success considering the Major AA came in second in the Tier 2 tournament and Minor A came in first. The kids had fun! To celebrate we made do and I was able to use concession money to let each team have a wind-up party and was able to embroider hoodies for the Major AA team.”

  The people on the board or who coached regularly helped keep the league functioning were:

Kim Van Ham from Bow Island; Lance Schamber from Milk River; Dale & Cindy Bosch with Foremost; Jay Lapierre in Coaldale; Brendon Odland who was in Enchant and now is our treasurer; Lindsay Stober in Vauxhall; Amanda Kimoto in Taber; Lindy Takaguchi and Scott Takaguchi in Taber; and Frank West in Picture Butte.

  “And (to) all the parents and volunteers who did concessions and bingo shifts and even just gave us feedback along the way,” she said. “All the alumni and former board members who helped us to know what Norcrest had done in the past even when they had long since moved on as their kids got older. All the knowledgeable coaches and program coordinators who answered the millions of questions that we have had over the past few years to figure things out and try to imagine a future for baseball in these eight communities.”

  “Even the parents from Lethbridge and other areas like Brooks who liked Norcrest enough and were grateful for summer baseball opportunities when their own leagues didn’t have a spot for their son or daughter; they drove them out of town to come to practices and worked with us to do the best we could for the kids and supported all of us as we figured things out along the way. Also, Doug’s sports in Lethbridge for being so accommodating and Moonlite Graphics for always helping me out in a pinch.”

  “Summer 2022, I had the chance to co-host Major AA championships with Lethbridge. They did Tier 1 and Norcrest hosted Tier 2. With one week’s notice!” she said. “And it was a great success. At the Junior Canadians I was able to reconnect with the Lethbridge coordinator of the Tier 1 tournament, Cam Mills, and it was so nice to see him and to have that collaborative experience in the past.”

“I know I have missed people but if I can get across how much I have enjoyed the people I have met and connected with and the help I have had along the way.”