Victoria Hayward, National Softball Captain: how our women keep rolling through uncertainty.

Summary: If there were awards for weathering setbacks, the Canadian Women’s Softball team would clean up. The National squad has found creative workarounds for obstacles since at least 2008, the last time Softball made an appearance in the Olympics. Now that the sport is back on the roster for Tokyo 2021 the team has high hopes to rewrite their fourth place finish. That left a sour aftertaste for veterans - and yes, thirteen years later, there are still four women on the team with personal stakes in winning bigger at the Olympics. For team Captain Victoria Hayward, the answer is in big picture thinking. Canada’s National Team also plays as 'The Wild of Southern Illinois', where international softball competition is fierce, which is exactly what you want to sharpen team skills. Today Hayward talks about the latest innovation, a 56 player new softball league, which is truly revolutionary for the sport. 'Athletes Unlimited' combines the best of fantasy league and the best of traditional play, to create a model that has already caught on like wildfire with fans. Players are drafted each week, scoring combines team wins and individual contributions. Players get points for hitting singles, and stealing bases...and profit sharing is meted out accordingly too. It’s a head spinning idea, but it has already brought more money and attention to the game than it has seen in many years.