SPORTS DIARY: Ukraine's girls at the World Cup of softball (05/21/06)

SPORTS DIARY: Ukraine's girls at the World Cup of softball

Basil P. Tarasko, district administrator of the Little Leagues in Ukraine, as well as coach for the National Baseball Teams of Ukraine, is now preparing for his 42nd charity trip to Ukraine (May 26-June 20).

Aside from attending and supporting various Little League games throughout the country, his three-week trip will take him to the town of Ostroh, Rivne Oblast, to present, on the behalf of the Major League Baseball Tomorrow Fund and Little League Baseball Inc., new uniforms, gloves, bats, bases, etc., to an orphanage for deaf children. This orphanage is officially chartered to play Little League baseball in 2006.

Mr. Tarasko, who is based out of New York, will also go to Kyiv to organize and prepare for the seventh annual Ukraine Little League Baseball Championships to be held there on June 1-4. All registered Little Leagues in Ukraine can send an all-star team to compete for the title. The winner will then vie for the European Championships in early August.

On the eve of Mr. Tarasko's upcoming trip to Ukraine to promote Little League baseball, The Weekly publishes an account of his involvement with Ukraine's national 16 and under girls' softball team that participated in the third World Cup competition played in late 2005 in Tampa, Fla.

by Basil P. Tarasko
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

NEW YORK/TAMPA - A delegation of 15 left Kyiv on November 21, 2005, traveling via New York to Tampa, Fla., for the third World Cup of softball.

This trip was not included in the official Ukraine sports program for 2005. Funds were originally allocated for the Ukraine National Junior Baseball Team to compete at the European Championships in Spain. Since the team was unable to obtain necessary visas for travel, the allocated funds went unused. After much discussion, Ukraine's Ministry of Sports decided to use the funds to send 10 young ladies from the age 16 and under team to represent Ukraine at the softball World Cup.

Michael Savchak and I arrived at JFK with sandwiches, pickles and drinks, donated by the Veselka restaurant on Second Avenue in Manhattan, for our young players. I looked up and saw that the Aero-Svit flight would arrive at 7 p.m. - more that three hours later than scheduled due to mechanical problems at Kyiv's Boryspil Airport. The connecting flight to Tampa was to be at 8:30 p.m., too close for comfort considering potential customs clearance delays.

No problem, we thought. Our team would just take a later flight. That was not to be. Delta Airlines indicated that the 8:30 flight was the last one that evening for Tampa. Now what?

Finally, at 8 p.m., as our team cleared customs, we located our rep and learned that hotel arrangements were set up for our team to stay over in Queens and depart the following morning. This was a blessing in a way. Our team had a limited budget to work with. We had just saved one night's hotel cost by staying over in New York.

There was a problem. I had arranged for Ukrainians in the St. Petersburg-Tampa area to welcome our team at midnight and then transport them to their hotel in Plant City. They had to be notified of the cancellation. Could they return the following morning?

Luba Mycyk, a dynamic and energetic young lady, and her husband, Roman, along with other warm and caring Ukrainians came to the aid of our team. They were there in the morning to greet our Ukraine team and drive them to our hotel.

How did I find Mrs. Mycyk? Ika Casanova of The Ukrainian Weekly suggested that I contact Prof. Vira Bodnaruk of North Port, Fla., for assistance. Prof. Bodnaruk indicated to me that she could not assist with our transportation needs because North Port is about 100 miles south of Tampa. But she gave me another contact, Mrs. Mycyk.

* * *

On November 23, in our opening game, our team faced the Diamond Dusters under the lights. Our newly found Ukrainian fans from the St. Petersburg area came with blue-and-yellow flags to root for their "home" team.

This was a first for the Ukraine softball program - never before had our girls tried to catch a fly ball under the lights. It was truly an adventure.

The Dusters scored early and often to take a four-run lead before Ukraine scored its first run in the bottom of the third inning. Anna Marko reached first base on a walk, took second on a passed ball, and then Anna Loza executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Marko to third. Oksana Maksakova knocked in Marko for the only Ukrainian run with a single up the middle. Final score 12-1, Dusters.

Ukraine would score its only other run in the tournament three games later and take its only lead in a game against the Lady Panthers. Maksakova led off the game with a sharp single to left. She moved to third on back-to-back wild pitches and scored when Tetyana Bondar grounded out to second base. The Panthers responded quickly with nine runs in the bottom of the first and went on to defeat Ukraine 11-1.

Ukraine lost all six games, scoring but two runs and getting two hits, both by Maksakova. Yet our ladies never quit - they swung the bat, encouraged each other, cheered in Ukrainian and kept on smiling. They were happy just to be here and were proud to wear the Ukraine uniform.

These were delightful young ladies. They were wonderful ambassadors for Ukraine. Our young team quickly became the darlings of the tournament.

Special thanks go to the Emerald Comets, the Jacksonville Thunderbolts, the Tampa Bay Mustangs and the SunCoast Outlaws for their kind donation of equipment for our team.

The final result of the World Cup: the Shamrocks of Virginia squeaked by Chinese Taipei 2-1 for the championship. Twenty teams competed, including five foreign teams.

* * *

Our Ukraine team for the third World Cup consisted of 10 girls - six from Rivne and four from Kirovograd. The adult delegation, which was all male, included a part-time softball coach and a baseball coach. The team did not include all the best softball players in Ukraine, nor were the best softball coaches in Ukraine present.

Unbeknownst to me, two years ago Ukraine had participated in the second World Cup. That team also scored a total of two runs and with the same two coaches. Where is the progress? What does this say about the development of softball in Ukraine? If Ukraine is to invest thousands of dollars to send a team to the U.S., then why not send the best players and send the top softball coaches? And, Ukraine should not send 10 girls to play six games in four days. Send a full team. Invest in the youth of Ukraine, if you want better results in the future.

To help turn the Ukraine softball program around for 2006 and beyond, the Ukraine Little League program is planning to register all softball programs under its banner. There will be an emphasis on scheduling more games and providing better instruction. Little League softball championships will be held in all age categories. The hope is to identify the best players early on. In order for our best playersto get more international experience, the Ukraine Little League softball program will send national teams to Kutno, Poland, to compete at European Softball Championships in all divisions.

Let's hope that, if Ukraine sends a team in 2007, it will send its best players and its best softball coaches.

* * *

There were so many local Ukrainians who made our trip and stay in Florida memorable. We will never forget them.

Special thanks to the following individuals for providing financial support, moral support, transportation help, warm smiles or just being there for the girls of our Ukrainian Softball team and for supporting my Little League Orphanage Project in Ukraine.

From the New York area: Dr. Bohdan Kekish, president of the Self Reliance (New York) Federal Credit Union; Jason Birchard, Veselka Restaurant; Tamara Jeziorski, Gary Krupsky and Michael Savchak.

From North Port, Fla.: Prof. Vira Bodnaruk, president of the Ukrainian Language Society of Chicago; Iwanna Holowaty, president of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America Branch 56; Dr. Volodymyr Korol, president of the Society for Humanitarian Help to Ukraine; Orysia Tkachuk, Mykola Spivak, Stephanie Sandra, Chrystyna Sheldon, Daria Pelech and Leida Boyko.

From the St. Petersburg-Tampa area: Luba Mycyk, president of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America, Branch 124; Volodymyr and Ruslana Panov, Bohdan Horbaczuk, Ihor Matiychuk, Olya Czerkas, Irena Kuc; Ihor Khakhoula and Andriy Slybka.

* * *

For more information about the Ukraine Little League Baseball and Softball - Orphanage Project readers may contact: Basil (Vasyl) Tarasko, 36-46 212th St., Bayside, NY 11361; phone, 718-415-7821; e-mail, bt4ukraine@aol.com.

| Home Page |