Raine Mingo called her recent trip to Surrey, B.C., the best one she's ever been on.

If you got to do what she did, you wouldn't disagree with her.

Mingo was one of 11 players with the Yellowknife Wolverines U14 girls program that got the chance to travel to Surrey for a nearly week-long training camp of sorts from July 9 to 12, which included some time with the Canadian women's national softball team as they were there for the Canada Cup international tournament.

SA国际影视传媒淚t was really fun and amazing,SA国际影视传媒� said Mingo. SA国际影视传媒淭he coolest part of it was the game we had against the team from Cloverdale.SA国际影视传媒�

Part of the trip involved an exhibition game versus the Cloverdale Fury '08 team and the Wolverines managed to squeak out an 18-17 win when all was said and done.

Ella Skauge, another one of the Wolverines who made the trip to Surrey, said it was an exciting game and she even got in some action on the rubber, nearly striking out the side.

SA国际影视传媒淚 got two strikeouts,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淭hat's hard to do.SA国际影视传媒�

Mingo said both teams seemed to be evenly-matched.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey were slightly better at pitching but we were pretty close in everything else,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淭hey were all really nice.SA国际影视传媒�

The big thrill for both young ladies was getting the chance to meet the national women's team. That meeting preceded a training session with the women's squad, where the Wolverines got the chance to learn from the best in the country.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey were all super cool to be around,SA国际影视传媒� said Skauge. SA国际影视传媒淲e got to talk with the players and practise hitting with them and then watch them do batting practice.SA国际影视传媒�

Mingo said the one thing she was hoping to work on was her hitting.

SA国际影视传媒淚 lean forward too much when I bat and I have to learn to not let go of the bat halfway through my swing,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

The Wolverines then got the chance to see it all in motion during actual tournament games which Skauge said was interesting to watch.

SA国际影视传媒淚t's so much faster than what I've ever seen,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淵ou see all of the different teams and watching how good they were was awesome.SA国际影视传媒�

The girls also bumped into one of the teams from South Korea, Skauge added, but the conversation didn't go so well.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey didn't speak a lot of English and we didn't speak Korean but we smiled a lot,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Jennifer Lukas was one of the coaches who made the trip and she said in terms of lighting a fire and inspiring the girls, the trip was a success.

SA国际影视传媒淲e brought 11 girls who were mildly interested in the sport and brought home 11 girls who want to be ball players,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淭he girls met Team Canada, watched them take batting practice, watched them play several Canada Cup games, trained in a top-notch facility, and played SA国际影视传媒� and won SA国际影视传媒� an exhibition friendly game against a local team.SA国际影视传媒�

The trip came about after Lukas had a chat with Jim Ullock, a softball instructor from B.C. who was in Yellowknife earlier this year to host a pitching clinic.

SA国际影视传媒淚 told him about our development program and how we were going to Alberta to play games and he told me he could do much better than that,SA国际影视传媒� said Lukas. SA国际影视传媒淗e helped set things up for us in Surrey, we got to train at his facility and he got us tickets to watch Canada play.SA国际影视传媒�

Among all of the things the team learned, Lukas said the one thing she wanted them to learn was cheering, which is a big part of the women's game.

It didn't start out as well as she would have hoped, however.

SA国际影视传媒淲hen I went to home plate for the conference before we played the Fury, I asked the team to give their best cheers because our girls had never done them before,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淎s soon as we took the field, they launched into a massive cheer and it threw the girls right off. Raine was pitching in the first inning and she actually asked if they could stop because it was off-putting for her.SA国际影视传媒�

After the game, Lukas had the girls go and learn a couple of cheers from the Fury squad with the hopes of putting into practice down the road.

SA国际影视传媒淚'm hoping we get to do this every year,SA国际影视传媒� said Lukas. SA国际影视传媒淢aybe not the Canada Cup but more opportunities for the girls because you learn so much from each other. Softball is such a tight-knit community and we're all playing in the same box but it's great to go and see what other teams are doing.SA国际影视传媒�