PHOTO COURTESY OF WADE WELTE
Tayler Soveran-Welte of Richmond, Sask. stands with all of her MLB Trailblazer swag in front of a ball diamond at the Jackie Robinson Complex in Vero Beach, Florida on April 15.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Medicine Hat little leaguer Tayler Soveran-Welte enjoyed the MLB Trailblazer in Mid April.
The Richmond, Sask. product was one of 95 girls from North America, one of six from Canada, to attend the five-day camp at the Jackie Robinson Complex in Vero Beach, Fla.
Soveran-Welte and the other girls in attendance were all outfitted with new gear including uniforms, shirts, pants, shorts, cleats, a ball bag and were assigned a dorm room with a roommate and a locker in the massive locker room. The 13-year-old Soveran-Welte’s roommate was from Tampa Bay.
Soveran-Welte said one of her highlights was learning new things while enjoying baseball.
“Learning some history about woman’s baseball and finding girls that share the same interests as me,” Soveran-Welte said in an email to the News. “(I) loved meeting lots of new people each day and growing bonds between some nice kids I met there and learning new things.”
The girls were split into four teams by their age for the camp, which consisted of skill development and three games against the other teams in their age group. It was run by the coaches and some of the players off the U.S. National Women’s baseball team.
On April 15, the same day Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier in MLB in 1947, the girls bussed down to Miami to take in the Marlins facing the Philadelphia Phillies. At the game they watched batting practice and met Kim Ng, general manager of the Marlins. Ng is the highest ranking female executive in MLB and the first woman to serve as general manager of a team in the four big leagues of North America.
The girls also heard from Mo’Ne Davis, Jeanane Lesko and Maybelle Blair during the weekend. Lesko and Blair were two of the original All American Girls baseball players who inspired the movie ‘A League of Their Own’. Davis was the first African American girl to play in the Little League World Series and the first girl to pitch a shutout in the LLWS. She also appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Meeting Davis was another highlight for Soveran-Welte, who said she will be back in the Medicine Hat Little League system this season to take on the boys.
Soveran-Welte and her father Wade were both thankful of Medicine Hat Little League and all its done for her. She has a strong message about achieving goals for all.
“Have your mind set on a goal and once you set your goals, don’t let anyone change them.”
