By: Melissa Verge
His bags were packed for the biggest baseball tournament of his career when Kashten Harz got the email.
The flight taking Manitoba’s Harz and his teammates to Prince Edward Island for the 15U Ray Carter Cup National Championship was canceled in the wake of a three day Air Canada strike.
Harz and his teammates, who had been grinding all summer to bring their best game to PEI, all of a sudden faced the disappointing reality - their way there no longer existed.
“I had doubts if we were going to make it,” Harz said.
But instead of forfeiting the tournament, parents, staff, and players agreed - getting there was non-negotiable, said Baseball Canada CEO Jason Dickson.
“For me it was the effort, the creativity, the desire just to get the kids there,” Dickson said.
“Whatever it took to get them to a championship, they were determined that they were not going to disappoint.”
No flight last minute? No problem.
Together they teamed up, turning a logistical nightmare into a collaborative effort and a testament to the passion the country has for the game.
A $23,000 rally for Harz and his teammates started when one dad went out of his way and found a bus that began its journey in Pilot Mound, MB. Players then took an eight hour international trip from Winnipeg to Minneapolis, MN. They stayed overnight in a hotel, then took a flight to Bangor. And finally, a bus ride had Manitoba's best arrive at midnight August 21st to the small island on the east coast.
It was mere hours before they were scheduled to play their first game that they rolled in, thanks to dedication from all sides- parents, organizers and players, said Baseball Manitoba's Executive Director Jason Miller.
That effort shows the passion they have for the sport, Miller said.
“[We want to be] putting our athletes in the best position to succeed as [much as] possible, despite all the hurdles and the barriers we've had to face,” Miller said.
They weren't alone in dealing with additional roadblocks in getting to PEI.
Team Quebec and Team Saskatchewan were also left scrambling after the strike impeded their travel plans.
Team Quebec took a bus to the island, with the host PEI helping with travel arrangements to get them there.
From their position they were going to try everything in their power to ensure all the teams got there, said tournament chairman Tanner Doiron.
Despite being the tiniest province in Canada, they're strong when they come together.
“We're a small city but we have a punch above your weight mentality,” Doiron said. “I think it's something that we're fortunate enough to be set up as, and we have a great tight knit volunteer group able to come together and get that done.”
Get it done, they did.
Planning the tournament schedule started a year in advance, and to have anybody missing from the competition was just not an option they wanted to accept, said Baseball PEI's Executive Director Rhonda Pauls.
“Without all of our teams here we would've had a big hole in the competition,” Pauls said.
Players on Team Saskatchewan were able to switch the names on their tickets and take their parents' flights - which flew in later, and into three different airports. Baseball PEI had “every fleet vehicle known to man” out August 20th to pick them up and bring them to the tournament.
Thanks to that effort, and the work everyone put in, despite the odds, all 10 provincial teams were present for Nationals.
They may be Canada's smallest province - but their passion for baseball is strong, Pauls said.
“We're all in here,” Pauls said. “PEI is all in, but Canada is all in for baseball too, obviously.”
Although Canada may always be known first for its hockey, baseball is continuing to grow in numbers, Dickson said, with the passion Canadian's have for the game at the grassroots level, and efforts such as this.
“It would've been easy to just say ‘well maybe we won't go this year,’ but everybody worked to find a solution to get there,’” Dickson said.
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