Group C of the WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup gets underway on Thursday, with six teams battling for two spots in next year’s finals. On Wednesday, the head coaches of the six teams spoke about their teams and their expectations for the event during the pre-tournament press conference at the Drey Hotel at The Village Dallas.
All teams shared their philosophy regarding this event, which will conclude the group stage of this competition.
“Our approach is to be better at one thing every day, especially better than the day before,” said Kyla Holas, USA head coach, who is back leading the team after winning the 2021 World Cup. “We’ve really focused on learning every day. They’ve embraced it and are making decisions every day about what they want to get better at as a team.”
Jorge CorveraCoach of the Mexican team, said that his team came to Dallas with a clear goal: to reach the final. “We have a positive attitude, our goal is to secure a ticket to the final and the girls are ready for the challenge. We have worked hard over the last two years, so we want to secure the ticket to the 2025 final.”
However, Mexico will face strong competition this week, including from Australia. “Our attitude is to play every game, no matter what happens, we are there and we go out there and do our best,” said Leigh GodfreyAustralia’s head coach who competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “This is a really good learning opportunity for all these girls who may be going to LA28 to really use that experience to get exposure internationally and understand that pressure is a privilege and we’re lucky to have that.”
Keith MackintoshCanada’s head coach also explained his philosophy for the tournament, saying he and his team will take care of the little things. “Big things take care of themselves,” he said. “Some of these kids were in Colombia (for the Americas qualifier) and some are new here. So we’re really focused on putting the team together and preparing as a unit.”
Skylynne ElazarHead coach of the Philippines, said the team needs to focus on themselves and the controllable things. “I think for us, our main mindset is to be resilient and control the things we can control,” she said. “This is a new team that is just coming together. I know there are a lot of things that are happening. But as I usually tell the girls, we need to focus on the things we can control on the field, then the other things will fall into place.”
“We have taken every opportunity to bring our players together. A large number of them travelled to Poland for the U-23 European Championship and I think it was a great experience for these younger players to step up and experience the change of level,” said Melanie LaveryHead coach of Ireland. “Any time you get the opportunity to wear your country’s name on your chest, it’s a great experience. They might be a little nervous, but that’s normal. And as soon as they see the first pitch, everything goes back to normal.”
At the end of the press conference, the teams were asked to think of one word to describe their excitement for this week. These are each team’s one-words:
- Australia: Compete
- Canada: Family
- Ireland: Heart
- Mexico: Qualify
- Philippines: Battle
- USA: legacy
