Mckenzie Howard’s Italian is weak, but she speaks great softball

Mckenzie Howard makes a play at third for the Woodstock College Avenue Knights, one of several softball teams the U15 star enjoys playing for. (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

Mckenzie Howard may have to brush up on her Italian.

But the Woodstock College Avenue student’s ability on a softball diamond will speak for itself as she takes to the field with Team Canada U15 at a World Cup tournament opening June 23 in Milan, Italy.

“This is like a very wow kind of thing!” Howard smiled following a Thames Valley Regional Athletics outing earlier this season.

Her softball career began at a very young age as a T-ball player out of Sweaburg. She tried other sports, including soccer and swimming, “but this one kind of stuck.”

Howard moved on from Sweaburg to the Springfield Brewers and thence to the Tier I Waterloo Ghosts at the age of eight or nine.

“I’ve been with them since,” said Howard, who was first drawn to the sport by her elder sister Morgan, a pitcher who is also in the Ghosts’ (U17) program.

“She was kind of like an inspiration to me,” says Mckenzie, of a mutually respectful and supportive sibling relationship. “We’re very close - we support each other very well.”

Mckenzie is primarily a pitcher and shortstop.

“But wherever the team needs me, I can go.”

She is also strong inside the batter’s box, named the top U15 batter at last year’s national championship tournament, where the Ghosts finished second to Quebec.

“Contact - I’m just an on-base hitter,” said Mckenzie. “Not home runs, just singles or doubles usually.”

Fastball is a large part of her life, beginning with the Ghosts but also extending to playing with her high school team, giving her both ‘more reps’ and the chance to meet new teammates.

“This is one of the reasons I was really excited for high school.”

Howard also plays on a winter team called Northern Force which competes at tournaments in Las Vegas, Tennessee and Myrtle Beach. Howard also headed to Florida in March Break with Team Ontario.

“Lots of experience, that’s for sure.”

Working towards an NCAA softball scholarship is among her goals, as well as earning a position with Team Ontario’s U19 program, which competes at nationals and beyond. That was a longer-term goal for when Howard gets older; however, a training camp in Woodstock last fall opened up a teaching academy opportunity to compete internationally at an earlier age. In conjunction with the World Cup announced in Italy, Canada entered a U15 team into a Mexico-based qualifying tournament, gaining a top-four berth and softball trip to Milan as a result.

Training camp was very strict, exciting and featured a lot of competition, said Howard, who added it was executed in a highly organized, fast-paced manner.

“It was great,” she said, thrilled to make the roster. “It’s a great opportunity,” Howard continued, describing herself as both nervous and excited.

“All of the above, so many emotions.”

Although Milan will be a career highlight, so far, it’s only one aspect of a sport Howard has found enjoyable on many levels. She lists relationships with the girls among her primary enjoyment, along with learning that hard work pays off.

“It has just been a great experience, loved it,” she concluded, adding her own personal takeaway, that trying new things pays off. “So, I guess always try new things, see what fits, I guess.”