Sports in Canadian culture

[megadude]

Brooke Henderson and now Bianca winning Canadian Open in their respective sports. Good stuff!

[Denscity]

Again and again the BC (Metro Vancouver) team wins the Canadian Little League championship. This time the team from Coquitlam beating the stacked host from Quebec.
BC has won 14 of the last 15 championships.

[megadude]

Like in my statement from last year, if anyone knows more correct me if I'm wrong, but BC is the only province that takes Little League seriously. Little League is the main baseball organization and brand in BC. Everywhere else it is a variety of youth baseball and not a corporate brand of youth baseball.

There are four divisions based around Vancouver. There is one for the Montreal region. The top youth baseball players play Little League in BC. This is very much not the case around the ROC if I understand correctly what I've read in the past. And also heard on ESPN when it comes to the US.

Number of MLB players from BC is something to be proud of. Dominating a tournament in which BC is the only province taking it seriously is not so much of an accomplishment.

The "real" national championship is Baseball Canada'a U13 Peewee national tournament. Well, the closest thing to real since most BC players are in the other form of youth baseball.

[Denscity]

Im surprised the GTA doesnt do well in this tournament due to the shear population and the Blue Jays factor.
And this tournament must be a big deal if its broadcast nationally and the winner gets to play for the very big deal Little League World Series which goes national in the US and Canada.

[megadude]

Well there are only four GTA teams in Little League. There are six from Montreal.

Vancouver has four divisions accounting for however many teams this is:

BC District 1 - website
Dunbar · Jericho · Kerrisdale · Little Mountain

BC District 3 - website
Surrey, BC

BC District 3 Leagues
Coquitlam · Langley · Whalley · White Rock/South Surrey

BC District 4
Prince George, BC

BC District 5 - website
Cypress Park · Highlands · Lynn Valley · Mount Seymour · West Vancouver · Howe Sound

BC District 6
Hastings · South Vancouver · New Westminster · Trout Lake

BC District 7 - website
Beacon Hill · Lakehill · Victoria National · Central Saanich · Layritz· Hampton

BC District 8
Trail | Castlegar | Nelson

[megadude]

"Little League" is a big deal because of its branding and having a big time showcase they created in Williamsport, PA. It's marketing. People confuse Pop Warner football with youth football in general. Pop Warner is also just a brand.

There's far more talented players in peewee youth baseball as opposed to Little League based on sheer numbers. Little League might have a higher concentration of elite players based on the small number of teams but in total numbers that's not the case, except in BC.

Jays fever back in the 80s and 90s I'm sure lead to higher enrollment in baseball, but that was peewee and not Little League.

I was friends or classmates with many kids on the Brampton pee wee team that did pretty well back in the day. They just called it rep. baseball. I had no idea Little League existed back in the day, not until I saw Canada had a team every year in the LLWS.

A few of those guys went on scholarship to US schools and one played low A ball, which is the start of the path to the majors. Still quite a distance from MLB though.

[megadude]

Here are the medalists from the history of the Baseball Canada's national championship.


13U/Peewee Championship: Historical Results/Championnats 13U/Peewee:
Résultats historiques
Location/Lieu
Year/
Année Gold/Or Silver/Argent Bronze
Peace River, AB 1972 Sydney (NS) Saskatoon (SK) Kennedy-Delta (BC/C-B)
North Battleford, SK 1973
Sydney, NS 1974
1975
1976
South Burnaby, BC/C-B 1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
Strathmore, AB 1989 Saskatoon (SK) St. Albert (AB) Newcastle (NB)
Bedford, NS 1990 Canadian Polish AC (MB) Ridge Meadows (BC/C-B) Westhill (ON)
Charlesbourg, QC 1991 Brampton (ON) Charlesbourg (QC)-host Québec
Summerside, PEI 1992 Burlington (ON) Coquitlam (BC/C-B) Fredericton (NB)
Maple Ridge, BC/C-B 1993 Québec North Delta (BC/C-B) Brampton (ON)
North Bay, ON 1994 Québec New Brunswick North Bay (ON)-host
Summerside, PEI 1995
1996
Summerside, PEI 1997 Coquitlam (BC/C-B) Mississauga (ON) Québec
Summerside, PEI 1998 Waterloo (ON) Québec BC/C-B
Summerside, PEI 1999 Québec Ontario Manitoba
Summerside, PEI 2000 Lancaster (NB) Vancouver (BC/C-B) Guelph (ON)
Summerside, PEI 2001 Ridge Meadows (BC/C-B) Mississauga (ON) Saint John (NB)
Summerside, PEI 2002 Québec Vancouver (BC/C-B) Mississauga (ON)
13U/Peewee Championship: Historical Results/Championnats 13U/Peewee:
Résultats historiques
Windsor, ON 2003 Québec Whitby (ON) Coquitlam
Summerside, PEI 2004 Team BC/C-B Goldeyes Québec Calgary (AB)
Summerside, PEI 2005 Coquitlam (BC/C-B) Québec Regina (SK)
Victoria, BC/C-B 2006 Québec Victoria (BC/C-B) Mississauga (ON)
Québec City, QC 2007 Georgetown (ON) Québec Abbotsford (BC/C-B)
Vaughan, ON 2008 Québec Surrey (BC/C-B) Windsor (ON)
Moncton, NB* 2009 Riverview (NB) Moncton (NB)-host St. John's (NL)
Red Deer, AB** 2009 Saskatoon (SK) Sherwood park (AB)
Summerside, PEI* 2010 Summerside (PEI) Halifax (NS) Yarmouth (NS)
Brandon, MB** 2010 Abbotsford (BC/C-B) Brandon (MB)-host Ridge Meadows (BC/C-B)
Dartmouth, NS* 2011 Bridgewater (NS) Dieppe (NB) Saint John (NB)
Nanaimo, BC/C-B** 2011 Nanaimo Pirates Abbotsford (BC/C-B) Saskatoon Braves (SK)
St. John's, NL* 2012 Fredericton, NB Charlottetown PEI/ÎPÉ Bridgewater, NS/N-É
Saskatoon, SK** 2012 Cloverdale, BC/C-B Saskatoon (SK) Blue Jays Spruce Grove, AB
Fredericton, NB* 2013 Tri-County (NS/N-É) Fredericton (NB) Moncton (NB)
Spruce Grove, AB** 2013 BC Regina (SK) South Central (MB)
Altona, MB* 2014 Pembina Hills (MB) Cloverdale (BC) Saskatoon (SK)
Charlottetown, PE** 2014 Summerside (PEI) Fredericton (NB) Dartmouth (NS)
London, ON 2014 Brampton (ON) Abbotsford (BC/C-B) London (ON)
Yarmouth, NS* 2015 Dartmouth (NS/NE) Yarmouth (NS/NE) Summerside (PEI/ÎPÉ)
Repentigny, QC 2015 Lanaudière, QC (Host) Coquitlam/Moody (BC/C-B) London (ON)
Coquitlam, BC** 2015 Coquitlam/Moody (BC/C-B) Burnaby (BC/C-B) South Jasper Place (AB)
Saskatoon, SK** 2016 Abbotsford (BC/C-B) Sask Five (SK) South Central (MB)
Mount Pearl, NL/T-N* 2016 Hammonds Plains, NS/N-É Capital District, PEI/ÏPÉ St. John's (NL/T-N)
London, ON 2016 Brampton (ON) Mauricie (QC) London (ON)
Spruce Grove, AB** 2017 Abbotsford (BC/C-B) Camrose, AB Regina (SK)
Moncton, NB/N-B* 2017 Dartmouth, NS/N'É Kentville, NS/N-É Summerside, PEI/ÎPÉ
Repentigny, QC 2017 North York (ON) Saskatchewan Québec
Brandon, MB** 2018 Surrey (BC/-C-B) St. Albert (AB) Red Deer (AB)
Summerside, PEI* 2018 Capital District (PEI) Fredericton (NB) Halifax (NS/N-É)
Woodstock, ON 2018 Mississauga (ON) Burnaby (BC/C-B) Québec
* National Atlantic
**National Western

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by megadude

Brooke Henderson and now Bianca winning Canadian Open in their respective sports. Good stuff!

Bianca is so good when she's healthy, it's scary. Key words are "when healthy". Hopefully she remains healthier throughout her career than Raonic.

She's 38-4 this season. She retired in one of the matches and withdrew before the start of another one. So she technically has lost 2 full matches this year (Australian Open in January and in Acapulco in February).

She's pretty much unbeatable when healthy.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by megadude

Brooke Henderson and now Bianca winning Canadian Open in their respective sports. Good stuff!

Ya seems like a new golden age for us at least with the women.

[isaidso]

^^ I wouldn't write off FAA and Shapo quite yet. They're still teenagers.

Originally Posted by Denscity

Again and again the BC (Metro Vancouver) team wins the Canadian Little League championship. This time the team from Coquitlam beating the stacked host from Quebec.
BC has won 14 of the last 15 championships.

And why they should put a MLB team in the Lower Mainland somewhere. Baseball is stronger there than anywhere else in Canada with the possible exception of SW Ontario.

Originally Posted by Denscity

Im surprised the GTA doesnt do well in this tournament due to the shear population and the Blue Jays factor.
And this tournament must be a big deal if its broadcast nationally and the winner gets to play for the very big deal Little League World Series which goes national in the US and Canada.

Baseball culture is far stronger in SW Ontario than it is in the GTA. It bears mentioning that SW Ontario is also where the first documented baseball game was played: Beachville in 1838. Close by in London is where one would find the world's oldest ballpark. It's too bad there's no major city down there. If there was one they surely would have gotten a team before Toronto.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Im surprised the GTA doesnt do well in this tournament due to the shear population and the Blue Jays factor.
And this tournament must be a big deal if its broadcast nationally and the winner gets to play for the very big deal Little League World Series which goes national in the US and Canada.

I have trouble taking the LLWS seriously because the US is guaranteed a spot in the Final every single time. It's not a real world championship when 1 country gets 8 teams in the tournament while the rest of the world battles it out to see which US team they'll play. When the US is limited to 1 team (and no byes) then I'll start watching. Till then it's a joke as far as I'm concerned.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by isaidso

^^ I wouldn't write off FAA and Shapo quite yet. They're still teenagers.



And why they should put a MLB team in the Lower Mainland somewhere. Baseball is stronger there than anywhere else in Canada with the possible exception of SW Ontario.



Baseball culture is far stronger in SW Ontario than it is in the GTA. It bears mentioning that SW Ontario is also where the first documented baseball game was played: Beachville in 1838. Close by in London is where one would find the world's oldest ballpark. It's too bad there's no major city down there. If there was one they surely would have gotten a team before Toronto.

I should have said southern Ontario not the GTA. From this far away it all seems to be the same place nievely.

[megadude]

I'm glad the HOF is in St. Marys as baseball has that small town charm to it like Field of Dreams. Cooperstown too.

They may be far from the big city but I'm okay with that.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Ya seems like a new golden age for us at least with the women.

It's a golden age for the men, too. Never before have we had so many in the top 100/top 30. Having Felix, Shapo, and Raonic all competitive simultaneously is very impressive, to say nothing of what Andreescu is doing.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by JHikka

It's a golden age for the men, too. Never before have we had so many in the top 100/top 30. Having Felix, Shapo, and Raonic all competitive simultaneously is very impressive, to say nothing of what Andreescu is doing.

Ya true. Felix and Shapo are still really young with years left to rise in the standings. Im afraid Raonic is on his way down but has been good for a long time.

[Denscity]

Canada now 1-1 at the Little League World Series. The Italian game was shown on not one but 3 TSN channels nation wide.

Edit: Canada now eliminated after losing 8-1. So Coquitlam was the class of the country but just a minnow in the world of Little League baseball.

[megadude]

Congrats to "Winnipeg". And congrats to "Vancouver" last year on winning the first edition of this cricket tournament. I get it though, if you're having six teams you gotta call them something, even if they are playing every game at the same venue unlike in cricket leagues in the cricket playing countries where they actually play at their own home stadiums. Pretty uninspiring nicknames for half the teams though.

I just glad some rich guys from India decided to throw millions into this money losing venture with the hope that some day it will be profitable through streaming back home. This is good for Canadian cricket.

The second edition of the Global T20 tournament in Canada witnessed a thriller of an end on Sunday, August 11. It was a mouth-watering final, where Winnipeg Hawks beat Vancouver Knights in a nailbiting Super Over to win their maiden title.

Chasing 193 for victory, defending champions Vancouver Knights rode on two lethal knocks – skipper Shoaib Malik’s 36-ball 64, and Andre Russell’s 46 not out off 20 balls. The match was tied at the end of 20 overs with the Knights having 4 wickets in hand.

https://crickettimes.com/2019/07/glo...st-of-6-teams/

[megadude]

Canadian LLWS team bows out early again. Canada hasn't had a winning record at the LLWS since 1998 when they finished 3rd.

I know it's not a collection of best of the best players and it's just one club team reppin' Canada, but I think it's some kind of indicator that other countries take Little League more seriously than Canada. And pretty much BC is the only province that takes it seriously anyway.

I'm just guessing that the other countries have a higher portion of their elite kids playing the Little League form of the game than the pee wee form.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by megadude

Canadian LLWS team bows out early again. Canada hasn't had a winning record at the LLWS since 1998 when they finished 3rd.

I know it's not a collection of best of the best players and it's just one club team reppin' Canada, but I think it's some kind of indicator that other countries take Little League more seriously than Canada. And pretty much BC is the only province that takes it seriously anyway.

I'm just guessing that the other countries have a higher portion of their elite kids playing the Little League form of the game than the pee wee form.

Ya I mentioned the elimination. Coquitlam was the king of the country but just a minnow in the baseball world. Just a small fraction of Canadian kids play baseball compared to the stronger team nations.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Jesus christ, what a shit show the Winnipeg NFL pre-season game has turned out to be.