For the love of the game: St. Albert seniors keep active in 70-plus slo pitch league
A slo pitch league in St. Albert is helping seniors stay active and have fun on the field.
The St. Albert Men's Slo Pitch Association, with 1,100 members, has a team for any age group, including open pools, 40-plus, 50-plus, 60-plus, and 70-plus divisions.
Malcolm Parker, a pitcher and coach for the Esso Bees, has grown up playing in the league.
"I've been in the league since '82, until now," Parker told CTV News Edmonton. "So a lot of time."
"When you ask me my age, I'm not telling ya," he added with a laugh.
Esso originally sponsored the team in 1984 — hence the name. Parker said the play on words was too good to give up.
"Esso Bees, you can read into what I'm trying to say with that without me trying to say it," he said.
Playing in the 70-plus division, most players are not strangers to the diamond, but experience doesn't always mean success.
The team's last win was in August 2018.
Parker is quick to point out that there was no season in 2020 due to the pandemic and an abbreviated one the next summer.
"We can't stretch it (the streak) to four," said Ryan Markowski, 68, Esso Bees left field.
Winning is not the team's priority, Parker says.
"We're all competitive to a point that we do want to win, but the main thing for us is the friendships that we have and how we get along and the fun we have doing it," he said.
"It's no point getting upset about," Markowski added. "Not like any of us are going to the majors or anything."
Al Weinger, who has played ball for 50 years, said it's more about the exercise and the friendships.
"I love the game," Weinger said. "We go out and have fun. That's what we do. If we lose, we lose. If we win, fantastic, but it's the game. We play to get out and get some exercise."
Parker is optimistic the team will shatter their losing streak in the coming season.
"It's just a matter of when," he said. "And when we do, we'll call you."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.