Lifelong athlete looks back on special softball tournament: The Story Line
'They had tears in their eyes. I think that tells you about what kind of emotion you're dealing with'
She's laughing over the phone. Like, really hard.
I think this is a good sign.
I'm sitting in the studio at CBC in Charlottetown, talking to a stranger on the phone. I do this every month. "Everybody's got a story," is the theory I'm working on. To prove it, every month, I open the P.E.I. phone book to a random page and stab my finger at the first name I find.
This week, I find Dawn Moase in Chelton. I've just explained how my random search found her. It's apparently terrifically funny.
"Have you got a couple minutes?" I ask.
"Yeah, sure," she says, trying to hold it together.
"Tell me about yourself."
I went right to sports because that's a big part of my life, I guess.- Dawn Moase
"I volunteer a lot with hockey," she says. "Of course, women's hockey. I was with the Hockey P.E.I. executive for a number of years, and now I'm with Sotfball P.E.I. Coached for a lot of years. And played sports, of course. My whole life."
I smile. "You went right to sports."
"Yeah, I went right to sports because that's a big part of my life, I guess," she says. "I started playing just with the neighbourhood kids. Back when I was growing up, there was always large families on every side of me. So you always had a ball team or soccer team or whatever to play with."
A legend
Moase is a bit of a legend in P.E.I. sports. Especially hockey. She's won national leadership awards for coaching and building in women's hockey. She's even got an annual hockey championship cup named after her.
But when I ask her about her favourite memory, she jumps back to softball, when her own team played a tournament — in New Zealand.
The World Masters Games are a lot like the Olympics. They come every four years to a different city around the world. The only difference: you have to be over 45 to play.
Moase and her team (named Cheers—I love that) planned their 2017 trip to Auckland for four years. She says she knew the whole thing would be big but it's one thing to know there will be 30,000 athletes there and an entirely different thing to live it.
"They put on a show, like, unbelievable," she says. "And then they bring all the countries down and parade them all around in the opening ceremonies. And then the fireworks. The light shows. A couple players who are mature women tapped me on the shoulder and they had tears in their eyes. I think that tells you about what kind of emotion you're dealing with."
The same old game
Moase was nervous and excited when Cheers showed up to play its first game against a team from Australia. But then, as soon as the first pitch was thrown, it was the same old game she's loved her whole life.
"My oldest player was 72 years old at the time," she says. "We played a team and their oldest player was 69. So I was talking to the coach, and I said 'my player's going to play.' And she said 'well, we'll put our player in.' So our player pitched, and their player played first base."
"That's amazing," I say.
"It was a thrill to see them on the field."
That pitcher was Carol White. She pitched for the win.
Cheers had a great tournament. They went undefeated through the round robin portion of the tournament, but lost a big game — the qualifier for the medals round.
I think, for me, it's because it's the first sport I fell in love with.- Dawn Moase
The loss stung a bit, but Moase says the tournament was never about winning.
"For me, just to be there, to travel halfway around the world and then meet all these other people, and they have like an athlete's village where you interact with people from around the world. I mean, I've never been to the Olympics, but everything you see on TV, it follows the same suit."
Moase believes in the power of sport. She thinks everyone should play. It doesn't matter which one. It doesn't matter if you're any good at it. She says you should just pick a sport and play.
"So why'd you pick softball?" I ask.
"I think, for me, it's because it's the first sport I fell in love with. And I've just been playing it my whole life."
Which is as good a reason as any.