Erica Littler, one of the coaches of the 2014 Carnarvon U14B ball team  says softball is her ‘go-to’ sport.

Erica Littler, one of the coaches of the 2014 Carnarvon U14B ball team says softball is her ‘go-to’ sport.

Backbone of the ball team

Second in a series of three profiles of young women making a difference
in Oak Bay sports

Erica Littler started playing softball when she was eight years old, and at 20, she keeps coming back to it.

“[Softball] was my go-to sport,” said Littler. “It was something I was always passionate about.”

Littler played on the Oak Bay High team, with which she went to provincials twice, placing in the top 10 both times. She credits that as her biggest accomplishment in softball on paper, but holds her friendships in higher regard.

“Just knowing the girls and counting them as my friends for as long as I have, I think that’s also really important.”

Littler started coaching younger girls softball when she was 16.

“It’s amazing to see where they started out when they were throwing melons, to just throwing absolute bullets,” said Littler. “It’s so fun to see the progression.”

Coaching has been a way for Littler to stay involved with softball and give back to the community; something she hopes the girls she coaches will consider after high school.

UVic, where Littler is going into her fourth year of five, does not have a school softball team, but there are intermural teams.

She currently plays for the Victoria Junior Aces with the Victoria Saanich Women’s Softball Association.

It’s a way for me to keep playing, and keep playing with the girls that I love,” said Littler.

Oak Bay News