Business picks up for baseball, football, softball in photo roundup

By Gordie Howe Sports Complex staff
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Rachel Siwak drives the ball of a tee at the Indoor Training Centre.

The excitement and momentum for the spring season kept building and kept going when it finally came.

For the Gordie Howe Sports Complex, the arrival of May starts a period lasting about six to seven months where all the facilities on the Complex grounds are in operation. Baseball and softball begin regular season play.

Football gets going with numerous flag leagues, Saskatoon Minor Football’s North Sask Academy league and the Saskatoon Valkyries, who venture on a quest to capture another WWCFL title. The Track and Field Track gets swamped with various meets in May, June and July.

Of course, there is big excitement for the return of Western Canadian Baseball League to Saskatoon. The Saskatoon Berries will play their home opener on May 28 at 7 p.m. at Cairns Field against the Regina Red Sox. That contest will mark the first time Cairns Field has hosted a game in Canada’s premier collegiate summer wood bat league since the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets ceased operation following the 2014 season.

Activity was still busy inside the Indoor Training Centre as athletes in all these sports were peaking their training throughout April in anticipation of the calendar turning to May. One group looking further down the road in this calendar year was the University of Saskatchewan Women’s Softball Program. They held a tryout camp inside the Indoor Training Centre from April 13 to 14.

Samantha Moore runs down a ball hit into the outfield.

Our lead picture for our photo roundup comes from that camp and sees veteran centerfielder Rachel Siwak working on her sweet swing in a batting cage on April 13. The second picture sees veteran right-fielder Samantha Moore running down a ball hit into the outfield.

The tryout camp allowed the U of S players to get in some work before joining various club teams at the start of May and playing with those squads in spring and summer. The U of S squad usually begins play in late August.

The pictures in this photo roundup capture some of the memories that are made on our grounds. In this photo roundup, all of these pictures were taken by our Communications Coordinator in Darren Steinke.

Without further ado, here is a selection of 11 shots we hope you enjoy.

Focus on tackle form

A player with the Saskatoon Wild Oats Rugby Club concentrates on perfecting a tackling technique on a teammate during a practice session hosted by the program on April 10 at the Indoor Training Centre. The Wild Oats men’s and women’s clubs get in regular indoor training sessions as their respective seasons approach.

Lineout catch looks good

Members of the Saskatoon Wild Oats Rugby Club work at making sure the ball is caught in a lineout on April 10 at the Indoor Training Centre. Members of both the Wild Oats men’s and women’s programs were gearing up for their upcoming campaigns.

Securing the flyout

An outfielder with a Saskatoon Selects under-18 team gets under and secures a catch in the outfield during a training session on April 10 at the Indoor Training Centre. The Selects players were getting in as many defensive repetitions as possible with the season around the corner.

Tracking in top form

A catcher follows the ball into her glove during a tryout session hosted by the University of Saskatchewan Women’s Softball Program on April 13 at the Indoor Training Centre. The coaches with the U of S club were evaluating players before they departed to their club teams in May that play in spring and summer.

Take down

A young player flattens a tackle wheel during a drill on April 16 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. Saskatoon Minor Football was holding an ID camp for its North Sask Academy in the under-16 age group on this day.

Running with power

A ball carrier powers through a couple of tacklers during a kick return drill on April 16 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The drill was part of the activities overseen by Saskatoon Minor Football as part of an ID camp for its North Sask Academy in the under-16 age group.

Winter reminder

Just when it looked like the weather outside was cleared up, winter sent a reminder that it could come back at any time. Saskatoon Minor Football Field is pictured here after a snow dump on April 18.

Sweet touch throw

A quarterback makes a perfect throw during a Rush Female High School Flag Football mass practice on April 22 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. Players taking part in the Rush program develop a strong love for the game.

Well-timed juke

A ball carrier puts on a juke move to fake out a defender during a Rush Female High School Flag Football mass practice on April 22 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. The Rush program is outstanding when it comes to delivering fun and competitiveness.

All in the release

A young pitcher focuses on making a good release working on her craft at a Saskatoon Phantoms under-15 team practice at the Indoor Training Centre on April 28. The Phantoms coaches had pitchers working on their release before going into a full pitch wind up.

Turning on the jets

A base runner finds her top gear turning a well-placed hit into a triple during a modified scrimmage between a pair of Saskatoon Selects teams on April 28 at the Indoor Training Centre. The turf field at the Indoor Training Centre provides a perfect spot to conduct simulated game situations.

Safe at home

Saskatoon Giants base runner Tristin Tetreault Yaremko slides in safe at home during a Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League game in under-18 AAA play against the Saskatoon Diamondbacks on May 8 at Leakos Field. The Diamondbacks ultimately squeaked out a 4-3 win.

Special delivery

Saskatoon Diamondbacks pitcher Casey Rauckman finesses a pitch to the plate during a Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League game in under-18 AAA play against the Saskatoon Giants on May 8 at Leakos Field. The Diamond slipped past the Giants 4-3.

He could go all the way

Samuel LaFreniere from Team Green runs a punt a long way back to a touchdown during North Sask Academy league action on May 8 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. Team Green took this contest over Team White 41-2.

Making it look routine

A Cardinals men’s team baseball player settles under a fly ball during a training session on May 8 at the Indoor Training Centre. A smaller group of Cardinals players were out getting lots repetitions in the outfield.

A beauty site

The K+S Potash Canada Multi-Sports Centre sits overlooking the Track and Field Track on May 9 waiting to be used for that evening’s twilight meet. It makes for a great site on a sweet sunny day.

Shock’s Jaman in softball for life

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Haley Jaman sets for an at bat for the Shock.

Haley Jaman expects to be a softball lifer because of the people she’s met in the game.

The 20-year-old outfielder with the Saskatoon Shock and University of Saskatchewan women’s club team has been around the game for as long as she can remember beginning with watching her older sister, Jocelyn Jaman, play the sport. From that start, Haley Jaman began playing tee-ball at around age five and proceeded to grow up playing through the ranks of Saskatoon’s minor softball system.

“Half the girls that I am still friends with today I started playing ball with since we started playing zone ball,” said Jaman, whose Shock will play in Softball Canada’s women’s nationals that run August 10 to 14 at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. “We’ve grown up together, and we still keep in touch.

“In the winter, you kind of drift apart, but once summer starts, you are back together with your friends again. I think that was the biggest thing. I love the game.

“I love the competitiveness. Obviously, I love it enough I want to share it with other people. Definitely, the people and the connections I’ve made were like the best part about it.”

The connections have gone beyond those she’s made with her teammates over the years. Jaman has gotten a taste of the coaching side of the game for about the past five years. While attending high school at Centennial Collegiate, Jaman took part in the softball academy at Tommy Douglas Collegiate.

Through the softball academy at Tommy Douglas, Jaman completed a coaching component in Grade 10 that had her work with kids at various schools around the city, and she realize she liked that aspect of the game. Jaman got a little more involved with coaching when longtime elite level coach and player Jon Equina asked her to come out and help with various camps.

Haley Jaman, right, explains a drill to some players.

“I started evaluating and doing stuff for Team Sask for winter programs and had coaches approach me asking if I would come run like little camps with their own team,” said Jaman, who has coached with JQFP Softball and the Saskatchewan North Central Softball Academy. “This winter I took a Hustlers team, and I kind of helped out a little bit – a B team.

“I feel like it is very rewarding to see more of a progression. It has been something I knew I wanted to do since I was a kid.”

So far during her coaching, Jaman has noticed there are times young female players are more receptive to pick up a teaching point, if it comes from a female coach. As a player, she said she has times where she’s picked up pointers and messages from a female coach, which sometimes weren’t picked up when a male coach delivered those same pointers and messages.

“I think that is kind of the cool thing that the girls have someone closer to their age and a girl to relate to,” said Jaman. “That is exactly why I do it.

“Eventually, I want my own team, and I want to coach a team all summer. For now, I like just floating and helping when I can.”

Equina, who is the Shock’s head coach, has enjoyed coaching and coaching with Jaman over the years.

“Coaching Haley (Jaman) is an absolute treat,” said Equina. “She works hard every single time she comes out to the park.

“Whatever you tell her, she is definitely open minded to try it whether she has never tried it before. She is the kind of player and coach that she is willing to try different things in order to see different results. She is definitely ready to go outside the box in a lot of things player and coach.”

Haley Jaman patrols the outfield for the Shock.

Equina said he has been keeping his eye out for players that are coming up through Saskatoon’s minor softball system who he thinks might make good coaches. He thought Jaman would be great in that role as she brings a great positive energy when she interacts with others.

“My biggest thing as a coach is I am trying to get the next generation of coaches now in line,” said Equina. “I’ve been doing this for over 22 years and the same with the other guys that are with me and older.

“Now, it is the next generation, and the females especially that we need to get involved coaching. With her in mind, it was just perfect, because she loves helping out. She loves volunteering.

“Now being able to properly coach or how to coach was the big thing, and she has learned so well. She is excited to do it every time. Passion is something you can’t really teach.”

While she has been piling up the experiences on the coaching front, Jaman is still pumped for the opportunities she gets to play. After graduating from Centennial Collegiate in 2019, Jaman exhausted her eligibility for under-19 level ball as teams played an exhibition schedule locally in 2020 due to measures that were in place to battle the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that gripped the world.

Jaman had been playing out of the Hustlers zone and was part of group of players that didn’t want to be split up among the adult teams that existed in the city. Jaman and her Hustlers teammates joined up with a group of similar aged players from the Lazers zone to form the Shock, who had a handful of roster spots filled by players from other programs.

Equina agreed to be the Shock’s head coach and the team hit the diamonds from there.

Haley Jaman demonstrates a diving catch drill as a coach.

“The girls we played with we didn’t want to go play on random teams,” said Jaman. “We made our own team with ‘Queens’ (Equina).

“He is our coach, and that is how we got to stay playing together. One of the coaches actually came up to me and told me that the U of S has a team. Last year, I played with the U of S, and it was like a totally different experience.

“They were so cool. It was like just a little bite of what you get to do in college, but like playing just at home.”

The Shock won Softball Saskatchewan’s under-23 A provincial title sweeping a best-of-three series 2-0 over the Saskatoon Sabres. The Shock closed out the set with a 5-0 victory in Game 2 on July 9 at Bob Van Impe Stadium.

At nationals, the Shock will play in the women’s draw as there weren’t enough teams committed across the country to play an under-23 national championship tournament.

Jaman said she has never played in a Softball Canada nationals at home, so she is pumped for that opportunity this year. Besides having the support of family and friends in the stands, Jaman said a number of the girls she coaches want to come watch her play.

“I think that is going to be a really big difference this year that is going to work to our advantage having people to watch us,” said Jaman. “All my little girls (I coach) they already ask, ‘Send us your schedule.’

“All their parents want to know when we are playing, because they want to come support us. It works both ways. It is good for us, but then it is good for them to see this different level of ball.”

Haley Jaman plans to be involved in softball for a long time.

After this season is complete, Jaman wants to keep playing for softball as long as she can at any type of level. When she feels like she can no longer play, Jaman plans to focus even more time and attention on coaching.

“Once I kind of feel like my time playing is done like I said, I want my own team,” said Jaman. “I want to be able to grow with a group of girls and see them from where they started and kind of take them the way I’ve had a coach.

“I’d like to do that. In that way, I definitely just want to keep helping out. My kids will play.

“They don’t have a choice. They’ll play ball, so they’ll get a coach from their mom.”