EM softball player headed to Dominican Republic in July

By Cara L. Dempski

ELK MOUND — One Elk Mound softball player is taking advantage of a unique opportunity to play abroad this summer.

Allison Lindquist, age 17, will participate in an American International Sports Teams softball squad July 20-26 in the Dominican Republic. Her love of the game prompted her to attend an AIST try-out at Altoona last fall, and she was notified a short while later she had been selected for the team.

“I was excited (to make the team),” Lindquist explained. “I tried out the summer before my freshman year, and I wasn’t quite ready to make the team, so the summer before my junior year, I decided to give it a shot again.”

Lindquist, the daughter of Karl and Sandy Lindquist, will travel to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she plans to play between four and five games against other softball teams, and will participate in providing sports clinics for local children living in impoverished villages and neighborhoods.

The incoming senior said she is excited to have the chance to experience a different culture while competing in the sport she loves. She said she has her passport, and is already picking which of her used equipment can be donated to the children she’ll provide sports education to while there.

The Mounder student even plans to brush up on her Spanish vocabulary and grammar before heading out next month.

“I just had a full year of Spanish 2,” Lindquist laughed. “I’m hoping that comes in handy.”

The Dominican Republic under-19 team is one of three softball tour teams listed on the AIST website for 2017. There will also be a pair of teams traveling to Italy.

AIST

The American International Sports Teams organization started traveling the world in 2002 with players from across the country in a variety of sports. College players are selected based on coach recommendations and statistical leaders around the nation.

High school athletes can be selected from tryouts, on college coach recommendations, college showcase events, or research of online player profiles.

Players are promised unique cultural experiences, personal growth, skills improvement, and new friendships forged. High school students also get a chance to play with athletes of like skills as preparation for the college level.

The organization’s teams have traveled with top-level athletes to international exhibition games in at least 22 different countries during the AIST’s 15-year existence.

American International Sports Teams offers more sports options than softball. Athletes can compete in baseball, basketball, dance and cheer, football, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, volleyball, swimming, tennis and track and field.

Allison Lindquist

The Elk Mound softballer, who was just named the Dunn-St. Croix Player of the Year for 2017, has been playing the game for the past eight years. She makes no secret of her love for the game.

“I’ve been a catcher as long as I can remember,” Lindquist noted. “I just kind of fell into the position. I fell in love with the game pretty much from day one.”

Lindquist’s elementary and middle school softball experiences parlayed into the opportunity to suit up as part of the varsity travel team for road trips where there was not a junior varsity game scheduled.

That changed her sophomore year when she became the Mounders’ starting catcher.

In addition to playing the past two seasons as part of Elk Mound’s varsity softball team, Lindquist plays summer ball as part of the Seymour Flames. The squad is a traveling team that plays mostly tournaments throughout the summer.

The soon-to-be senior at Elk Mound cannot identify anything she does not like about the game.

“I love the whole game,” Lindquist stated. “I mean, the adrenaline rush from batting, putting the bat on the ball, or making that play when you get hit to, the joy of throwing a runner out as they’re stealing, it’s great.”

She seems excited to share her love of the sport with the children she hopes to meet while in the Dominican Republic, and expressed gratitude for being chosen for the team after coaches and evaluators watched her hit and field during the September 2016 try-outs.

Lindquist is responsible for getting herself to Miami, where she will meet the rest of the team traveling to Santo Domingo. She will be playing with other athletes from places like Texas and Georgia, and will even be joined by another player from Wisconsin.

She also verbalized an interest in learning how teams play in other countries.

“I’ve heard that it’s a little more scrappy down there,” Lindquist said. “I’m kind of expecting things to be a little more rough. Maybe the girls will be a little more physical in the game, on the base paths.”

It does not seem to bother the Elk Mound starter, though, since she finished the conversation by noting she is used to being more physical on the field since she is a catcher.