TORONTO, Canada — With just about three weeks to go before the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC) bowls off its big Labour Day weekend Toronto Cup softball tournament here, excitement is already at fever-pitch in anticipation of a great showpiece.

The tournament, which will also serve as a dress rehearsal for the fifth edition of the Guyana Softball Cup, set to be staged on September 30, 31 and October 1 in Georgetown, has attracted teams from New York, Guyana and the hosts. The organisers were also anticipating teams from Florida but they have opted not to participate.

Among the eight scheduled to vie for supremacy in the Masters division are two teams from the Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association (GFSCA), New York Softball Cricket League (NYSCL). New York Muslim Softball Cricket Association, Our Own Sports Club, Caribbean Sensation and a team from the OMSCC. The latter three are based in Toronto.
The Open category comprises six – NYSCL, New York Enforcers, Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) X1, Caribbean Sensation All Stars, Dant Sports Club and Masters/Cove Sports Club.
The committee, set up to organise the September 4-6 event, has been working feverishly over the past few weeks and according to coordinator for the overseas team, Mahendrabauth ‘Bobby’ Parasnauth, there has been significant progress to date.
Parasnauth, himself a veteran softball player who has also represented Guyana and Demerara and several clubs in Toronto, told Chronicle Sport that the OMSCC was aiming to have at least 16 teams participate, eight in the Open category and a similar number in the Masters (Over-45) division.
While the eight sides have been confirmed for the Masters category, only six have taken entry in the Open.
Dant and Caribbean Sensation All Stars, two of the top clubs in the OSCL, will field strong squads. Dant created quite a stir in their debut year in competitions run by the OSCL last season, carting off the 10/10, 15-over and the regular 20-over tournaments, an unprecedented feat in the league. Caribbean Sensation ended Dant’s 33-game winning streak in the 10/10 tournament a few weeks ago and subsequently won the final last weekend against Masters.
The organising committee is headed by Guyanese Azeem Khan, who is also the vice-president of the OMSCC and according to him, the tournament will be played along similar lines of the Guyana Softball Cup, which is organised by the GFSCA and tournaments played in New York, will feature an Open and a Masters categories, using white balls.
The welcoming ceremony will be held at the Tropical Nights Restaurant and Lounge, Morningside Avenue, (at Sheppard), Scarborough, starting at 19:00hrs on Thursday, September 3, setting the stage for the commencement of the tournament the following morning. The final will take place at the University of Toronto ground, Scarborough.
The OMSCC was established some 15 years ago and has a roster of 26 teams, comprising two divisions: one with 20 Over-40 teams and the other has six teams with players at age 50 and up. These players enjoy their friendly, yet competitive cricket games primarily on Sunday afternoons from the end of May to September in the Greater Toronto Area.

By Frederick Halley