ST. PAUL – Coming from the small town of St. Paul and moving on to playing with a university-level softball team and winning the 2022 Western Collegiate Softball Association (WCSA) championship, it has been a long road for Kelsey Kurek of the University of Calgary women’s fastball team - but a new journey awaits.
When Kelsey was 13-years-old in Grade 8, she started playing softball competitively for Sherwood Park Storm’s A Rep Fastball team. It takes a lot of commitment, and for around seven years, three to four times a week, Kelsey and her mom, Jennifer, spent a lot of time on the road between Sherwood Park and St. Paul.
While challenging, Jennifer says she’s blessed with the support of her parents and friends who, at times, helped look after her other children when “it wasn’t good for them to come with us.”
“It takes a community to raise children in sport, and for that I am grateful to have,” says Jennifer.
For Kelsey, while difficult and exhausting, the ball diamond is her happy place. It's a place where she can throw all her problems and frustrations away.
Softball was Kelsey’s brief escape from reality – and then it became more than that. Falling in love with the sport, she set up the bar high, pursuing the sport after graduating high school.
U of Calgary Dinos
One of her friends from the Sherwood Park Storm team encouraged Kelsey to sign up with the University of Calgary Dinos. Signing with the Dinos Fastball team in 2019, it has been a new challenge for Kelsey, who is also studying a combined degree in Kinesiology and Education at the university.
To balance both her studies and commitment to the sport, “I’ve been getting my readings done two weeks ahead of time,” says Kelsey. In her room is a giant calendar and a whiteboard where she writes everything she does, such as dates for practices and tournaments.
Deep within herself, however, there was fear. She feared the judgement of others, thinking to herself, “I’m not good enough... the coach is going to be disappointed in me.”
It was a fear not isolated within the playing field. “Even doing schoolwork, I’m like, I need to do good, so my parents are proud of me,” admits Kelsey.
However, since joining the team, she has learned that those who make up the team see one another as family, which has helped keep her motivated throughout the journey. The team dynamic and team goals have helped her set her own goals as both a player and an individual.
Just thinking about leaving the team to continue her studies will be hard.
“I love my team so much ... we call each other our softball sisters,” she says. “You’re with each other every day... I think we kind of just all know that we’re there to lean on one another.”
WCSA Championship
It has been around four years since Kelsey signed on with the Dinos, and the team walked a rocky road before finally facing off against UBC Okanagan Heat in the 2022 WCSA Championship earlier this month. According to Kelsey, the Dinos lost against UBCO last year and it seemed history would repeat itself. But the Dinos rallied and came back to win 7-6 in the finals game, bagging gold at the championship and qualifying for the 2022 CCSA National Championship (Canadian Collegiate Softball Association).
“I’m not going to lie, it felt so good,” says Kelsey.
Unfortunately, the Dinos lost to Durham in the CCSA quarter finals on Oct. 7.
Kelsey recalled her experience, of being able to represent the University of Calgary, seeing new places and meeting new people.
“It’s just a good experience – seeing different teams, meeting different people, and growing the sport,” she says.
“We barely would have had anyone come out and watch us play, and in our final this year, we actually ran out of balls because the little girls were all stealing them and holding them, and wanted us to sign them after the game,” she says.
“It was the most pure thing in the world – it was so cute.”
Family
According to Kelsey, her family and parents also played a huge part in her journey. She says she’s grateful to her mom, who used to drive her to practice in Sherwood Park.
“It’s insane, and even just the support, the mental support or even just being there so I could talk to her, and she gets it,” she says.
Kelsey says she also has three younger siblings who also play sports. “To juggle it all, I don’t know how she did it.”
When asked if there are words she could offer to youth, among her advice includes not letting
“what other people say affects you negatively.” Instead, “take it and turn it into something that can motivate you.”
People are always going to face adversities, “it’s just a fact of life,” she says, adding, “My mom always told me that if you want it bad enough – go get it.”
Looking forward
Kelsey has been playing for the Dinos for about four years, and still has one season to go. In her last season, she hopes to get a gold medal at the national level with her team.
“It’s a long road to get there, but I know we can do it,” she says. It will also be a good “accomplishment to end my career.”
Kelsey says she is also looking forward to coaching softball for a U15 girls team for the Alberta Summer Games Zone 7.
“Playing, being in school, and then also coaching and trying to get that ready for the summer will be interesting,” she says. “But I think I can do it.”
In the future, Kelsey hopes to grow the sport of softball in St. Paul.
“To me, softball gave me a sense of self... it was a happy place... it was my place outside of life where I could throw all my problems away and focus on softball and do something I love,” she says.
“I think it's important for kids to find a space like that, where they can just be kids."
