The Yellowknife Wolverines are in a league of their own

The story of the Yellowknife Wolverines softball team could be ripped from a Hollywood script.

This past weekend, the under-19 girls’ team finished second in its division at a provincial tournament in Castor, Alberta.

Last year, the women competed in Alberta provincials for the first time. They took home first place in D division, which allowed them to move up to C division this year.

“When we went to D last year, we honestly thought we were going to come in and get smoked,” said assistant coach Stacey Lymer.

Most other teams have much longer seasons, she explained, because they have indoor training facilities where they can practise for five or six months of the year.

By the time the Wolverines competed at this year’s provincials, they had been playing and practising for about six weeks.

The girls don’t often get to play together. During the regular season, they largely play against each other in a mixed league. Two are from Hay River, a five-hour drive away, and those players headed into provincials without having had the opportunity to train with the team all season.

All of this tempered expectations.

“I went in with the same mentality we did last year. We were not expecting to win last year at all, we weren’t expecting to make the playoffs last year at all,” said player Kali Skauge.

“But we showed up for our first game, had a great warm-up and had a great first game, and that set the tone for the weekend.”

The team faced an extra element of difficulty: the weather in Castor.

“I didn’t even know thunder delay was a thing until this weekend,” said Skauge, who described pauses lasting from 30 minutes to nearly two hours in the middle of some games as heavy rain and storms rolled through.

Skauge found it “tough to keep your head in the game and keep your energy up through the those long breaks.”

All of the obstacles made second place especially sweet.

“It’s quite a feat for Yellowknife to come down and be so competitive,” said Lymer, “and be successful with the limited field time and access that we have up in the North.”

Origin story

The Wolverines compete with teams at Alberta provincials because NWT Softball doesn’t have a similar tournament of its own.

In fact, the competitive girls’ softball scene is relatively young in Yellowknife.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, a group featuring Jenn Lukas, Steve Thomas, Wendy Malcolm and coach Greg Skauge – Kali’s father – organized a trip that took a group of girls to Surrey, British Columbia to watch Team Canada play at the Canada Cup, an international tournament.

The girls even got to meet the Team Canada players and join a practise session with them.

The goal of the trip was to build excitement for women’s softball in Yellowknife, and it worked, but the subsequent pandemic stifled their momentum and ability to travel to compete against other teams.

As initial restrictions eased, softball gained popularity in Yellowknife as a community-building sport that could be played relatively safely outdoors.

In 2021, Lymer moved to the city and immediately began coaching. She had been playing ball since she was four years old and had even competed against Lukas when they both lived in Ontario.

By 2023, they were able to take a team to provincials in Blackfalds, Alberta, beating six other teams in D division.

‘Limited access’ in the north

Growth brings problems. Lymer said the spike in Yellowknife softball interest has led to a shortage of available facilities.

“We don’t have enough ball fields,” she said. “It’s quite sad now. We’re actually turning away kids because there are not enough fields.”

This year, she puts the figure at 100 children turned away because there isn’t enough space to play.

She said she has asked the city to build more diamonds but hasn’t seen much progress.

Earlier this year, Lymer said Yellowknife Minor Fastball submitted an application to the Jays Care Foundation, a charity affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays, for money to help fund the development of additional playing space and improvements to the field at École William McDonald Middle School.

The application made it to the second round of the granting process before it eventually fell through.

Lymer said she was grateful that Yellowknife Minor Fastball helped secure some local sponsors this year. They helped purchase dirt to make the field at William McDonald “more playable” for younger groups.

A faster game

Kali Skauge, who also curls and speed skates, says she loves being on a big team.

“Everyone matters, everyone’s playing,” said Skauge.

She also enjoys having the opportunity to play with – and against – other girls.

“It is a completely different game, it’s fun, it’s higher energy,” said Skauge. “I think girls’ ball is faster.”

Skauge is one of seven girls on the team who graduated from high school this year. She’ll head to university in Camrose, Alberta in the fall but is excited to play with the Wolverines next summer before she turns 19.

Greg Skauge said three girls technically age out next year but, in Alberta rules, girls one year over the limit can still play as long as they are not pitchers or catchers.

Therefore, the Wolverines may have another year with the same team to try for first place in C division – and their Hollywood ending.