Aurora softball star Natasha Limbani achieved her lifelong dream of playing with the Canadian woman’s national team earlier this month, as part of the team that won the Canada Cup.
The 19-year-old short-stop has been playing softball since she was eight years old, and was part of the team that played in the Canada Cup July 1 to 7 in Surrey, B.C. The Canadian team came out on top, beating teams from Mexico, Israel and the Phillipines on their way to lifting the trophy.
“It was very overwhelming at first, playing with players you’ve looked up to your whole life,” said Limbani.
“Some of them are Olympic bronze medallists, you kind of feel like you don’t belong or you don’t deserve to be there. But just kind of throwing that in the back of your mind and going and playing — it was easy to adjust once I met all of the girls because they’re all so sweet and nice and welcoming. I definitely had to get used to it, but it was a lot of fun in the end.”
Limbani also plays for the Aurora Diggers under-19 women’s softball team, which recently came won at Ontario provincials. Limbani missed that tournament as she was playing with the national team, but was back with the team to play a tournament in Ohio the following weekend.
“First at bat she hits a home run,” chuckled Aurora head coach Todd Martin.
“I’ve taken a lot of pride in the fact that we’re creating some really good ball players,” said Martin. “So, for me it’s all about development and trying to develop these kids into the best ball players they can become. And it’s working.”
Since Limbani was young and first picked up a softball, she has eyed a spot on the national team.
“Making the national team was the goal for me from a young age, from when I first had a little camp clinic with players from the national team players, I just thought they were the coolest and I just wanted to make this team and represent my country,” she said.
“I just love softball so much because there's so much going on at once and there’s still so much to learn. I’ve been playing my whole life and I’m still learning things about the game. It’s so quick paced and exciting, every moment of it.”
While softball was at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, it is not in the Paris 2024 Olympics. But it is returning to the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, with Limbani saying that’s the “end goal.”
“Now that I kind of dipped my toes in the national program this summer, I know what I need to work on and I know how I can achieve that goal.”
