Torrence Clelland’s love for softball took her all the way to the Canada Summer Games this month, where she and her team went head-to-head against the best players in the country and they brought home a fifth-place finish.
The Games were held in Ontario’s Niagara region from Aug. 6 to 21.
“Everything was amazing there,” Clelland, 19, said of the Games. “All the people were so nice and the facilities were beautiful. The experience is something that I will never forget. I most likely won’t remember the outcome, but I will remember the time with all the girls and how much fun it all was.”
This was Clelland’s first time playing in the Summer Games. The try-out process to get a spot on the team actually began in 2019, she explained, but the Games were postponed due to COVID and then try-outs were held again. It was around Christmastime 2021 when she received the call that she had made the team.
“I was definitely overjoyed when I got that call,” she said. Her main position on the field is catcher, filling in as third baseman if necessary.
“I would say I was about five or six years old when I started playing softball,” Clelland recalled. “What motivated me to play was going to my dad’s games when I was little and watching. I am motivated to continue to play because I love the sport so much.”
Clelland, a graduate of Rimbey Junior Senior High School, is currently taking the athletic training program at Minnesota West Community and Technical College.
Twenty sports were showcased during the Summer Games, and there were 18 different facilities to host the different events. About 5,000 athletes, coaches and support staff all came together. In total, Alberta brought home 35 gold medals, 33 silver and 43 bronze, placing Alberta fourth amongst the 11 provinces that competed.