We are pleased to announce that 5 members of our Junior Olympics program - Ondrea Betner, Gabriella Bird, Taylor Christensen, Keeley Jo Schiermeister, & Brielle Wrangham - will join coach Kyle Christensen in Oklahoma City at the end of June to represent North Dakota in the 2nd Annual USA Softball 12U All-American Games.

The girls will join coaches and players from other Region 8 associations - Minnesota, South Dakota, & Wisconsin - to compete against some of the best 12U players from across the country.

The following press release was issued by USA Softball Region 8 Junior Olympics Commissioner Tom Bye regarding the upcoming event.

USA Softball Region 8 Selects 30 athletes and four coaches to represent the Region at the 2nd Annual All-American Games in Oklahoma City.

USA Softball is made of ten regions throughout the United States that represents each state so that athletes throughout the country have representation at the National level for softball.  Region 8 is comprised of Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and South Dakota.  Each state held their own tryouts in the last 3 months and the 30 athletes selected will combine to form two teams.

USA Softball All American Games is a prestigious tournament to be hosted at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. This event will provide National exposure to elite athletes in the 12u age division and has been designed to identify and highlight the best athletes from across the country. The event will feature a meet & greet with USA Softball National Team Members, Opening Ceremonies, intense competition in a 4 Game Guarantee Tournament and a swag bag for all participants.  This year’s event will be June 29th-July 1st, 2018 due to planned construction to the stadium at the end of the summer.

“The 30 athletes have been divided into two teams to represent our Region,” Tom Bye, Region 8’s Representative stated.  “Each state conducted their own tryouts to select athletes to represent them at the Games.  All selections were then divided based on talent at the different positions on the field along with offensive skills.”

USA Softball’s Region 8 team selections are as follows:

Team Red – Coached by Kyle Christiansen (North Dakota) and Dan Dohse (Minnesota).

Minnesota - Signe Dohse, Grace Conaway, Brooklyn Swanepoel, Evelyn Wolfgram, Norah Levelhagen

Wisconsin  – Brooke Steinhorst, Madyson Baker, Hayden Schabel, Harley Schabel, Rhyann Ireland Adam

North Dakota - Keeley Jo Schiermeister, Taylor Christensen, Brielle Wrangham

South Dakota - Emily Ann Froendt, Emillee Stofferahn

Team Blue – Coached by Troy Kressel (Wisconsin) and Todd Rasmussen (Minnesota)

Minnesota - Emerson Bowne, Rylie Rasmussen, Lacie Lilyquist, Brooke Holmes, Brooke Doebler

Wisconsin – Sarah Hammerton, Ashley Wolfe, Ashley Lisiecki, Caitlyn Kessel, Gretta Grassel

North Dakota - Ondrea Betner, Gabriella Bird

South Dakota - Jordyn Oines, Jorden Gabert, Makayla Hudson

For additional information on the All-American Games, please visit the website at www.usasoftballallamericangames.com. 

About USA Softball
USA Softball is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 69 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 150,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2 million.  USA Softball is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch.  USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships.  The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.

As the NGB for the sport of softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USA Softball, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.com<http://www.usasoftball.com/.