The Penticton Ice Girls have been together since last fall.

Training together over the fall and winter helped the under-16B rep fastball team become a close group. It doesn乌鸦传媒檛 matter that they are from all over the Okanagan (Penticton, Summerland, Peachland, Kelowna and Lake Country).

Kelowna乌鸦传媒檚 Jaden Allen said the team feels like home. Allen loves the fact the teammates accept each other.

乌鸦传媒淭hey are just amazing,乌鸦传媒� she said.

Summerland乌鸦传媒檚 Ryan Taylor loves every one of them. They are great friends, not just teammates.

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 a great feeling when everybody feels united. You feel more confident as a team going on the field, you feel like you can win the game,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淚f you mess up, someone has your back.乌鸦传媒�

The quick-developing friendships has delivered results on the field, though the start was a slow going winless in five games in their first tournament. It has gone better since in tournament action and playing in a under-19 C league, in which they have won four of seven games.

乌鸦传媒淲hat we乌鸦传媒檙e trying to do is get them into their rep mentality. By doing that we乌鸦传媒檙e just teaching all this new stuff that they have never seen before,乌鸦传媒� said Ice Girls coach Jeff Korven. 乌鸦传媒淚n house it乌鸦传媒檚 play everyone, bat everyone. In this, it乌鸦传媒檚 play nine and bat nine. You have got to earn your spot.乌鸦传媒�

Danika Bergenn of Penticton is loving the season and adjusting to Korven乌鸦传媒檚 coaching.

乌鸦传媒淚 had always wanted to play rep ball,乌鸦传媒� said Bergenn. 乌鸦传媒淚 always wanted to be super competitive. Learn all the signals and the different types of pitches and take it to a whole other level.乌鸦传媒�

Facing older competition isn乌鸦传媒檛 bad she said and it is based on their fear level.

乌鸦传媒淚f you step on the field and you are confident, then you are going to do just fine,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淚f you have faith in your coach and what he is telling you to do, you will do fine. We always try our best. We don乌鸦传媒檛 get down on each other when making mistakes.乌鸦传媒�

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Allen, who has been playing for 11 years, said it has been challenging against older teams.

乌鸦传媒淭here are some teams that are stronger, which makes us want to fight for the win more,乌鸦传媒� said Allen. 乌鸦传媒淚t makes us push ourselves even more.乌鸦传媒�

Korven said they have been phenomenal in responding to older competition. The butterflies are gone.

乌鸦传媒淭hey believe in themselves,乌鸦传媒� he said.

After hitting the midway mark of their season last week, losing to Cawston (which placed third in provincials last year) twice, the Ice Girls lost 6-5 in extra innings of their quarter-final match against Abbotsford in an Aldergrove tournament. Korven wants to see the players continue to play well and said they have improved by 乌鸦传媒渓eaps and bounds.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淭hey are finally starting to think like ball players,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淚 need them to see exactly how good they have to be to play at this level. We乌鸦传媒檙e going to be playing a lot of good teams.乌鸦传媒�

The best will come in the Canada Cup International Softball Championship July 7 to 17. The championship features a Women乌鸦传媒檚 International and Elite division, Futures under-19 18U Gold/A & U18 A/B and Showcase under-16 A as well as A/B division.

乌鸦传媒淓very one of these teams is phenomenal. We乌鸦传媒檙e just blessed to be invited to go to this,乌鸦传媒� said Korven.乌鸦传媒漈his will be the highlight of these girls softball lives.乌鸦传媒�

Just mentioning the Canada Cup and faces light up.

乌鸦传媒淲e can kind of go there and there is scouts watching. With the scouts there you have to be confident,乌鸦传媒� said Bergenn, who has made big improvements in her skills. 乌鸦传媒淭hat will be really fun.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 such a big opportunity,乌鸦传媒� said Taylor. 乌鸦传媒淵ou get to play a better level of ball. Everybody on the team is competitive.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 really excited for this. I want to see how the teams are,乌鸦传媒� said Allen. 乌鸦传媒淚 want to play against them so badly. I want to push myself even more and fight for that win. We definitely want to win that.乌鸦传媒�