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SCC site for Olympic training facility for Venezuela national softball team
West Burlington –Southeastern Community College’s West Burlington campus will serve as the training facility for the Venezuelan National Olympic Softball Team from May 20 to June 10, 2008. Athletes will use College’s Wagner Athletic Complex along with Great River Medical Center’s High Performance Training Facility.
While this partnership may sound strange to the average resident of the Great River Region, it was a logical choice for the team. Nearly half the Venezuelan squad has a direct tie to SCC.
Over the past five years, SCC Blackhawk Softball has fielded a number of Venezuelan athletes, eight of which are now on Venezuela’s National Team. The roster of the Olympics-bound team includes five former and three current Blackhawks. The veterans include Zuleyma Cirimele, Jineth Pimentel, Maribel Riera, Cristina Rodriguez, and Yaicey Sojo. The three current Blackhawks are Johana Gomez, Desiree Mujica, and Anyibell Ramirez. In addition to being a former player for SCC, Cirimele is the current Blackhawk Assistant Softball Coach.
This is the first women’s team of any kind to represent Venezuela at the Olympics.
The SCC-Venezuela softball connection is a unique one that’s been growing over the past few years. The Blackhawks’ Head Women’s Softball Coach, Melissa Navntoft says she began recruiting Venezuelan athletes back in 2003. Through her network of contacts, she was able to recruit Cirimele and Riera.
That year SCC had a stellar year, finishing with a record of 39-6 and earning the NJCAA Division II National Title. Cirimele and Riera had a great experience both on and off the field and word got out. Soon after, Venezuelans Cristina Rodriguez and Yaicey Sojo joined the squad, helping the Blackhawks take seventh place at Nationals in 2006.
Now that it consistently demonstrates such a high caliber of the program, SCC continues to attract top Venezuelan talent.
The team will train at SCC for three weeks and then embark on a month-long road trip to dates across the USA and Canada .The team will face National Fastpitch teams including the Washington Glory, New England RipTide, and the Chicago Bandits. The team will then head to Toronto, Canada participating in the Toronto Cup to play national teams from Canada, Japan, and Australia. The team will round out its tour with a trip to the Canada Cup in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada where they will face the Olympic qualifiers: Australia, USA, China, Japan, China Taipei, Holland, and Canada. The team will then travel to Beijing, China to compete at the Summer Olympic Games. Opening Ceremonies begin August 8.
Navntoft says she’s honored the squad chose to use the Blackhawks’ facilities. “They could have gone a lot of other places to train but they chose us here. That says a lot about the quality of our facility and the resources we have available.”
Navntoft continues that a key component in the site selection is team access to Great River Medical Center’s High Performance Training Facility.
“Chris Reed (GRMC High Performance Coordinator) graciously allowed the team to use GRMC’s facility. There weren’t many other places the team could go where they could have access to this caliber of training.”
Cirimele says choosing to train at SCC just felt right. “We feel at home here at SCC. They’re familiar surroundings, we have excellent facilities, and there is a lot of support, so we can focus on our training. For us, deciding to train here was a natural choice.”
Cirimele continues that while they’ll be playing for their native country, they won’t forget SCC.
“We’re all proud to be Blackhawks. When we go to the Olympics we’ll take a piece of SCC with us. We truly owe part of this achievement to SCC.”
Training practices and scrimmages will be open to the public. Softball fans, players, and coaches are welcome to attend.
SCC Softball Alums to play in 2008 Olympics
West Burlington –Five former and two current SCC softball players are headed to Beijing, China next year to compete in the Olympics. The seven Blackhawks all play for the Venezuelan national softball team which recently secured the eighth and final Olympic spot at the America’s Qualifier Tournament in Valencia, Venezuela, beating Puerto Rico in a best of three series, 9-0 and 4-0. It is the first women’s team of any kind to represent Venezuela at the Olympics.
The former Blackhawks are Zuleyma Cirimele, Jineth Pimentel, Maribel Riera, Cristina Rodriguez, and Yaicey Sojo. The two current players are Johana Gomez and Desiree Mujica. In addition to being a former player, Cirimele is the current Blackhawk Assistant Softball Coach.
Jineth Pimentel says making it to the Olympics is a once in a lifetime opportunity. “I am so excited and know that this is a dream for every athlete. It feels good inside knowing that you are going to the Olympics.”
Current Blackhawk Johana Gomez says that they had prepared for the tournament for a long time and came ready to play. “The team was very focused and ready for this tournament. We knew what we had to do and where we were going.”
Fellow Blackhawk Desiree Mujica says that the chemistry of the team made all the difference. “The key thing was that the team stayed together throughout and this was one of the reasons for our success.”
Venezuelan team member and current SCC Assistant Coach Zuleyma Cirimele says that the players’ time at SCC has allowed them to develop as both athletes and individuals.
“This team has grown so much over the years. We developed a lot with help from Coach Navntoft, our fellow players, and the College. The majority of our players going to school and playing softball in the USA have come to SCC. For us, coming to the USA to play is like playing major league baseball. As a result, we have grown as people and as athletes.”
It’s no coincidence nearly half the squad has a direct tie to SCC. The SCC-Venezuela softball connection is a unique one that’s been growing over the past few years. The Blackhawks’ Head Women’s Softball Coach, Melissa Navntoft says she began recruiting Venezuelan athletes back in 2003. Through her network of contacts, she was able to recruit Cirimele and Riera.
That year SCC had a stellar year, finishing with a record of 39-6 and earning the NJCAA Division II National Title. Cirimele and Riera had a great experience both on and off the field and word got out. Soon after, Venezuelans Cristina Rodriguez and Yaicey Sojo joined the squad, helping the Blackhawks take seventh place at Nationals in 2006.
Now that it consistently demonstrates such a high caliber of the program, SCC continues to attract top Venezuelan talent.
Cirimele says that SCC has made all the difference with her and her fellow team mates and that is what makes SCC such a good choice for her fellow athletes.
“You have a coach who cares about you, who cares about teaching, who loves the game, who builds your confidence as an athlete, who teaches you the most important things that you need to be successful as a person and as an athlete are discipline and attitude.”
Cirimele continues that while they’ll be playing for their native country, they won’t forget SCC.
“We’re all proud to be Blackhawks. When we go to the Olympics we’ll take a piece of the SCC softball program with us. We truly owe part of our success to SCC.”
Over the next year the Venezuelan athletes attending college in the United States will practice and play with their college teams. Those players in Venezuela will continue to train as well. Once softball season ends in May 2008, the team will reunite and train for the Olympics.
Venezuela joins Australia, Canada, China, China – Taipei, Japan, the Netherlands, and the USA as the eight qualifying teams to compete for Olympic gold in Beijing next August.
