Tak Niketas is feeling a bit like Al Pacino in the Godfather III: They keep pulling him back in.
The District 7 road to the 2015 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania — maybe the greatest sporting event for kids in any sport — begins today at Layritz Park with Niketas in a new role.
Niketas coached Beacon Hill to a near thing at the 2014 B.C. championship, leading South Vancouver 3-0 in the fourth inning of the provincial semifinals last year. But South Vancouver won the 2014 B.C. and Canadian championships to advance to Williamsport for the first time the park’s founding in 1956.
Niketas handed over the Beacon Hill reins this year to his former assistant Thor Wishart. Then came the call from National Little League, which wouldn’t have been able to field a team this year for the District 7 playdowns without help. Niketas couldn’t say no to the oldest Little League in Greater Victoria, founded in 1953.
Beacon Hill agreed to send the players who didn’t make its tournament team and fuse them onto a National-Beacon Hill team with Niketas coaching. He wasn’t about to have the National kids denied their chance of saying they played on the road to Williamsport.
“This is what every kid in baseball dreams about,” said Niketas.
“And if you put in the time and effort, you can get there. We [Beacon Hill] almost got to the Canadians last year, and that’s one step away from Williamsport.”
Once there, you play in front of crowds of 40,000 and are featured on ABC/ESPN. That’s heady stuff to fuel the imaginations of any 11-12 year-olds. Teams from B.C. have represented Canada in Williamsport 23 times, which is by far the most for any province. Included in that total are Esquimalt-Vic West in 1974 and Gordon Head in 1999 with Toronto Blue Jays major-leaguer Michael Saunders.
The B.C. champion has advanced to Williamsport every year since 2005.
No Canadian team has won the Little League World Series.
The District 7 playdowns begin today with host Layritz playing Hampton at 11 a.m., Central Saanich meeting Beacon Hill at 2 p.m. and re-born National playing Lakehill at 5 p.m. The tournament continues Sunday at Layritz with Beacon Hill and Lakehill facing off at 11 a.m., National and Layritz meeting at 2 p.m. and Central Saanich and Hampton playing at 5 p.m.
The tournament continues each day at Layritz through to the championship game July 18 at 1 p.m. The winner advances to the B.C. championship tournament hosted by South Vancouver.
Favoured is three-time defending District 7 champion Beacon Hill, which returns eight players from its 2014 B.C. semifinalist team. The main threat comes from annual powerhouse Layrtiz, which this season will be guided by Dave Potter as the head coach following more than 25 years with Mark Ward at the head coaching helm.
But nobody enters the tournament with more spirit than National, or looking so sharp. Niketas went back to the park’s original Kelly Green and yellow colours, much like that of the Oakland A’s, and got new uniforms made up for the boys.
“We’re going to be the best-looking team out there . . . our caps look so cool,” said Niketas.
“This is true grassroots sport.”
