It’s been a phenomenal year for female sports in Glovertown. Over the course of the 2018-19 school year, Glovertown Academy’s female teams have won three provincial titles.
In April, the girls ball hockey team won its first-ever provincial AAA banner in that sport. Grade 9 student Jenni Simpson was team MVP.
In November, Jenni traveled to Labrador for provincial cross-country running and took first place. In October, they won their second AAA provincial softball championship in as many years. The 2017-18 title marked the first provincial softball banner they ever won.
Coach Lindahl Butt beamed with pride when speaking of the girls’ success.
“It’s an extremely dedicated group of girls,” Butt said. “If we can’t offer a practice, they’ll get a practice in themselves. It’s just a pleasure to work with these kids.”
Equally impressive, he said, is their sportsmanship. While competition is the name of the game, his teams have always shown respect for their opponents.
“Our students put a lot of effort into their sports, so it’s great to see all that work pay off,” said Butt.
Jenni has been a part of all three title wins.
She is pretty much involved in every sport she can be. She said training for softball starts as soon as the field is dry, and for other sports they get into the school’s gymnasium whenever they can.
Jenni put AAA Bantam Atlantic hockey on hold to take part in a ball hockey tournament, so she could play alongside her older sister, in her last provincial school tournament.
“This is her last year to get banners, so we had to make it count,” Jenni said. “It didn’t feel right to not attend her last ball hockey provincial, so I played a game of Atlantics and went to ball hockey.”
