Niverville will host the 2019 U11 A Provincials this summer in Hespeler Park the weekend of July 5–7.

Eleven other teams from around the province will join the Niverville Wildcats, including two others from the local Carillon region, La Broquerie and Kleefeld. Niverville will begin the tournament in Pool A with round robin games against Parkland, Portage, and Pembina Hills. The top teams will head into the playoffs on Sunday, with the final being held at 3:00 p.m.

In order to qualify to host this year’s provincials, Hespeler needed a few upgrades.

“Covered dugouts are a requirement for hosting provincials,” says Rod Wolfe of the Wildcats organization. “We shared our desire to host a provincial championship in Niverville with the town and the need for covered dugouts. The town generously included the cost in the budget and town Operations did a superb job of installing the dugouts.”

Another upgrade is the extension of the parking lot at the south entrance of the park, to accommodate more visitors.

“Lastly, Niverville Baseball did some fundraising and installed two batting cages last year,” Wolfe says. “This is in addition to the excellent maintenance the town provides on a daily basis for the diamonds and the park… dragging infields, chalking lines, cutting grass, weed control, etc. As a whole, the ball diamonds and the park itself look great.”

Getting the provincials has been a great coup both for the town and the local organization.

“Niverville Baseball sent an application to Baseball Manitoba to host a provincial championship,” Wolfe says. “We specifically asked for either 11U A or 13U A. After reviewing the applications, Niverville was awarded the 11U A provincials in November 2018.

As for this year’s Wildcats roster, Wolfe reports that the team so far has a 2–2 record in league play, with a similar success rate in the tournaments they’ve participated in this year. He adds that all players are all local to Niverville and Ste. Agathe.