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Surrey Storm players picked for B.C. team heading to North American Indigenous Games

Elsewhere, the organization’s 06A team went undefeated at Alliance qualifier
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Myrah Mclaughlin, right, and Sophie Colligan pose for a photo at Sullivan baseball park on April 29, 2023 (Photo: Anna Burns)

Myrah McLaughlin was shocked when she opened her email to see she made Team B.C. for the 16U Female Softball team at the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) in Halifax this summer.

“I (was) honoured that I had been chosen to be on the team,” McLaughlin said after she heard the news.

The Games are for young athletes 13-19 years old and take place every four years. This year’s event will host 16 sports with over 5,000 Indigenous athletes, with 535 from B.C., coaches and team staff from over 750 Indigenous Nations.

McLaughlin told the Now-Leader that she is excited to show young athletes and Indigenous kids that anything reaching this level of play is possible. McLaughlin, who lives in Cloverdale, is Odawa from Wiikwemikoong First Nation.

After finding out she made the team, she texted her teammate Sophie Colligan, who had also tried out for the team.

Colligan made the team, too.

“I’m just really excited that I even get to play with my teammate,” said Colligan, who is a Newton resident and Anishinaabe from the Tallcree Nation, in northern Alberta.

McLaughlin, 16, and Colligan, 15, have played with the same Surrey Storm team and coach for the past seven seasons.

Kyle Chase has been coaching the two girls since the first time they ever picked up a softball. He has watched the girls put in the hard work to get to where they are today.

“It’s been just absolutely incredible to see how they’ve turned out in the past few years,” he said.

Mika Butler, from another Surrey Storm team, will also be heading to the games with the 19U softball team.

The Surrey Storm 06A team poses for a photo after taking home first place in the Alliance Qualifier in Kent, WA. (Submitted photo)
The Surrey Storm 06A team poses for a photo after taking home first place in the Alliance Qualifier in Kent, WA. (Submitted photo)

The success at Surrey Storm does not stop there.

The organization’s 06A team travelled south to Kent, WA, April 29-30 to compete in the Alliance Qualifier.

The team was undefeated and took home first place.

They scored 48 runs and only allowed four runs against them, according to Suzanne Milley. She told the Now-Leader in an email that the team “played incredibly well both offensively and defensively, including an amazing over-the-fence catch by centrefielder Caitlyn Dent.”

Haydn Milley was awarded the tournament MVP. She pitched 12 innings with 26 strikeouts and only 2 earned runs, batted .465 with a grand slam.

The team will travel to southern California at the end of July to compete in the Alliance Fastpitch Championship.



anna.burns@surreynowleader.com

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Anna Burns

About the Author: Anna Burns

I started with Black Press Media in the fall of 2022 as a multimedia journalist after finishing my practicum at the Surrey Now-Leader.
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