New softball club forms in county

One Plains woman is planning far ahead by forming a new softball club in Sanders County. Although the season doesn't begin until late next spring, Whitney Tanner-Spurr wanted to get a jump on forming the Sanders County Smoke 12U girls fastpitch softball team.

She held tryouts in Plains and Thompson Falls last week and is planning a third one this week for those who couldn't make the first two. So far, Tanner-Spurr has 25 girls from Plains, Thompson Falls, Trout Creek, Noxon, Heron, and one from Polson from age 9-12 registered for the team tryouts. She said they'll decide who made the team on Sunday, Aug. 27.

Sanders County has had recreational youth softball teams in the spring. They are normally made up of the individual communities.

"The main differences are that this team will be comprised of girls from across the entire county, and out of county if they desire to travel to us, while the spring recreational season is more local to each town, with those teams competing against one another," said Tanner-Spurr, who will serve as head coach with Sydney Connolly. She also noted that the season for this league is longer than the local recreational season. "The girls will get the added benefit of playing for their local recreation teams in the spring if they so desire, and once that season ends our tournament season will begin. The number of games played and the distance traveled for tournaments is also on a greater scale than that of a local team," she added.

Tanner-Spurr said the tryouts went well. The first was held at the Plains High School softball field last Tuesday and the second one last Thursday at Thompson Falls High. Tryouts lasted about two hours each and both in 100-degree temperatures.

During the tryouts, the girls were put through a battery of tests and evaluated on the mechanics of their throwing, catching, hitting, infield and outfield defensive abilities, base running, and sliding. Tanner-Spurr said they were appraised on their hustle, teamwork, communication, and attitude. "It is important to us to form a team that can be competitive but even more importantly be kind and supportive of one another and bring a positive attitude to any situation," she said, adding that all of the girls had some softball experience from two years to seven.

"My personal motivation comes from spending the last year driving to Missoula on a weekly basis for my own girls to practice for their club ball team, and the strain that this schedule put on our already busy family," said Tanner-Spurr, who played softball throughout her high school years, as well as slow pitch in a women's league and coed tournaments. "There are local girls that I knew of who chose not to participate in club ball due to the intense schedule, the distance needed to find a team, the costs associated with club ball, or any combination of these factors. These issues are things that we are hoping to prevent in order for our Sanders County girls to have an opportunity to play ball," she said.

The coach said she plans to roster 15 girls. The season starts in May or June, but she hopes to have a scrimmage game scheduled in October. The coach said they hope to eventually have 10U and 14U teams, too.

"We created the Sanders County Smoke organization because the only other options for local girls to play softball are the six to eight week season for local recreation ball, or to travel long distances to join a club team," said Tanner-Spurr. They will be practicing on Sunday afternoons throughout the off season. She said that it's a standard practice for the clubs to hold tryouts in the fall immediately following the summer season.

"The fact that at least 25 girls will have tried out for this brand new team is in my opinion a testament to how badly a club team was needed in the area," she said. Tanner-Spurr designed a team logo for the uniforms and they are establishing a Sanders County Smoke Facebook page for the club for people to follow information about the team.