Olympians attend softball facility opening

Kage North celebrated its grand opening on Saturday just north of Barrie, where two Canadian Olympic softball players and staff held a special camp to help grow the sport.

Erika Polidori and Janet Leung, bronze medalists for Team Canada in softball at the 2020 Games, coached a group of 25 young girls in a day-long softball camp at the newly opened facility in Minesing.

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"I think it's really important for us as players to give back to the sport," said Polidori. "I remember being able to have access to some national team players and get instruction from them, and it's really fun to have that full-circle moment and of being able to give back to younger girls here."

The new facility features batting cages for softball, slo-pitch, baseball and virtual baseball, space for fielding training and virtual ice for hockey training.

"The goal was to have people come in and let people know we are in the community and that we are open to expanding the sport," said Brittani Goettsch, a manager and coach at Kage North who has been involved in softball since she was three. "I've seen ups and downs throughout the sport. Covid hit, and it was almost wiped out. In certain areas, there was no more softball for girls, so we're really rebuilding it and getting girls back into the sport and making it stronger than ever."

Kage North's facilities and training programs will operate Monday to Friday between 2 and 10 p.m. and between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.