PRINCE GEORGE YOUTH BASEBALL ASSOCIATION: My Site News

She is an elite athlete who’s traveled to Cuba, Japan, and Taiwan. She’s been all through the United States and across Canada. These days, you’ll find her living in another country and attending university on an athletic scholarship. When Amanda Asay says she likes traveling and being around people, and that she wants a career which reflects that, you just know she’ll achieve it.

She has a capable air about her, communicated in a sure step and an alert energy. She’s tall, with muscular legs and a solid structure. It’s not hard to imagine Asay playing team sports in grade school, but somehow you just know she’s the girl who got picked to a team first. She moves with the particular grace and agility of a ready-to-go young athlete. You can tell she’s the girl who threw, skated, and ran as fast as any of the boys.

Asay comes by her athleticism honestly. Her grandfather, John Asay, was initiated to the Babe Ruth Hall of Fame in British Columbia, and was Umpire and Chief in BC, as well Provincial Commissioner for many years. Dad played football and baseball in his youth, and then graduated to coaching baseball. Until she had a family, Mom figure-skated, played hockey and softball. . Then she spent many afternoons playing catch with her two kids. And Amanda’s older brother played organized baseball and hockey until heading off to university a few years ago.

Every winter, the family erected an ice rink in their back yard, and played hockey together. “My brother and I had lots of one-on-ones on that rink,” Asay nods as she speaks. “It could get pretty competitive.”

Little League offered young Amanda a landscape to learn, practice, and create a positive reputation for herself. Playing on the boys’ team pushed her in other ways too. “To stay up at the boys’ level was tough. You have to prove yourself, otherwise they may think of you as weaker.”

Her Little League experiences laid the foundation for her as an elite, adult athlete. “I’ve had some help: my coaches have been good,” Asay says. “I don’t think I’d be where I am without the good teams and supportive coaches I’ve had.” Asay made life-long friends with teammates, and also learned that baseball could be more than just Little League. She heard about something called “the National Team,” and decided to put her muscle into getting picked for it. It was 2004 when Amanda Asay’s baseball talent was first rewarded. That year, she traveled to Quebec with the BC Girl’s Bantam Team. She was voted top catcher at that tournament and was scouted by the head coach of the Canadian Women’s National Team. When he discovered that Amanda was still too young to play on the national team, the scout arranged for Asay to play with the Alberta (provincial) team for the 2005 season. Playing for Alberta changed Asay’s life. Not only did she find other females as strong as herself, the coach honed in on her overt skills and weaknesses, and helped her improve her game immensely. Coach Andre Lachance also took the team to Cuba for an exhibition series that year, in what became “almost a big-sister mentorship program.” It was Asay’s first big trip away from home, and she was immediately hooked. She also developed a love and gift for helping other young girls pursue their baseball talents and dreams. The following year was the best year in terms of Asay’s young career. She was scouted by Team Canada again: “I was lucky; most 17 year olds don’t make it.” 2006 brought a trip to Tai Pai, where she played 1st

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she says with a smile and a slight shrug of her shoulders. “The best thing is that I don’t have to do any cross-training, except seasonal weights [lifting]. Each of my sports gives me a real want and desire to come back to the other.” “I like camping and hiking, but don’t get much of a chance to do it. I’m mostly sports and school.” Asay isn’t kidding. Each summer she heads back home to Canada, where she plays organized (women’s) fastball, and she’s the only woman on the BIG Construction Gray’s, a Senior AAA baseball team in Prince George. Somehow she’s also found the time to take her NCCP Coaching level 1, so she can “help out” with younger teams whenever she gets asked.

Asay isn’t interested in slowing down. In fact, she plans to continue playing baseball even past University. “The [Canadian] National team is getting younger, but some players are 30ish.” According to Asay’s mathematics, she could ultimately play baseball at the National level for at least another decade. She’s found a passionate group of peers in her Team Canada teammates. “It’s a pretty intense group of women playing [baseball] in Canada,” she says. Then there’s the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) to consider. Based in Quebec and Ontario, the circuit is a little thinner out West. There are two teams in Alberta and one in BC.

“I don’t know of any woman who plays only hockey, exclusively,” Asay says, “But I think my chances of getting onto a provincial team are pretty good…” It seems there’s no telling how far Amanda Asay will go. Although she wasn’t able to finish this year’s varsity softball season due to a broken collarbone (her first-ever major injury) she was back in the diamond two months later. Once again playing for Team Alberta, she enjoyed their first-place finish at Senior Nationals in Edmonton this summer, and maintained a spot on the Women’s National Baseball Team for the third season in a row.

Asay felt Canada “had a shot” at Gold, even though the team “has four brand new players” on their roster. “It’s lucky some of us have played together before,” she stated. This years’ Canadian National Team would only have played together (as a complete team) at exhibition games in Los Angeles just two weeks prior to the World Cup event. Matsuyama, Japan, August, 2008: Canada had a strong start in game one of the III IBAF Women’s Baseball Cup, against Hong Kong. Asay secured the spotlight with a single which plated two teammates and gave her team an early 2 – 0 lead. Canada kept it up, and won the game 19 – 9. Game two against Japan was a scorching loss (12 – 0) for Canada, but the team rallied brilliantly in game three against Korea, despite several rain delays which stretched the game to a painful five hours. The first inning saw Canada claim a 10 – 0 lead from which  they never looked back. Asay was 2-for-4, with three runs of her own, and Team Canada won their third game 15 - 0. The next two games were much tighter and were decided in the final innings. Game four saw Canada come back and finally edge out the US with a tough 7 – 6 win, a score which they repeated against Australia in game five. It was official: Canada would shoot for Gold, against Japan.

The final game started slow, with Team Canada taking the lead in the third inning: Asay scored a run which placed Canada 2 – 0. But the lead diminished as Canada made a few errors and left too many Team Japan runners on base. The final score would be a solid 11 – 3 for Japan. Canada had won Silver.

The next III IBAF Women’s Baseball Cup will be held in 2010, and it will be the year to watch the Canadian team. If one looks at their past performance (2004 and 2006: Bronze, 2008: Silver), it seems Canada is heading upwards toward a gold metal. All Asay needs to do is stay healthy and keep up her game(s), both on the diamond and on the ice. Her strength is her best ally and most marketable skill, and she has every reason to be scouted again for Team Canada. For the last couple weeks of summer 2008, Asay will be home in Prince George with her family. Then it’s study time again, and she’ll be off to Brown University where she will don her hockey gear and take to the ice in what has become a perpetually athletic and team-based competitive lifestyle. But the hours of training, playing and practicing that Amanda Asay puts in serve as food for her soul. She is happy and fulfilled—it shows clearly on her face and shines through in her enthusiasm. What will she do when she finishes her degree at Brown? “In my mind, as of now, I think I’ll eventually come back to BC. My plan is to come back to Canada, maybe go to Ontario. I don’t know yet.” Asay has done her research.

She knows that the majority of women’s baseball teams, funding, and training facilities are housed out East. “Coaching is centered there,” she says, “and definitely! I’d coach.” Traveling and playing sports are her chosen pursuits, and Amanda Asay is in a very strong position to continue pursuing her loves for a long while to come. This young lady is an athlete to watch, an athlete to admire, and an athlete Canadians should be proud to have on their team(s). She’s got (more than one) game, alright!

(taken from Playball online e-magazine)