July 4, 2007

The Canuck connection
Daughter of former NHLer taps her roots in quest for national-team spot
Gary Kingston, Vancouver Sun

Her father got lost Wednesday trying to find his old house in Vancouver, but Caitlin Lever hopes dad's South Porcupine, Ont., heritage will help her find a spot on the Canadian women's softball team.

Lever, born and raised in New Jersey and a first team all-American centre fielder in 2007 after a terrific senior season at Georgia Tech, is the daughter of Don Lever, who played eight seasons with the Vancouver Canucks after being the third overall pick in the 1972 NHL entry draft.

While Ashley Van Boxmeer, the Buffalo-born daughter of another former Canadian-born NHLer, John, is tearing the cover off the ball for Canada the last couple of days at the Canada Cup women's fastpitch tournament, Lever is toiling for the Georgia Wilson Selects.

Van Boxmeer, recruited into the Canadian system four years ago by former head coach Mike Renney, belted a three-run triple and drew a bases-loaded walk Tuesday in Canada's 8-1 win over Georgia. A day earlier, the Cal-State Fullerton grad smacked a pinch-hit grand slam home run in an 11-4 win over Japan Denso.

Lever, 0-for-2 with a strikeout in Tuesday's loss, said "the Canadian thing just got introduced to me not that long ago. It's really exciting.

"I've been in contact with the coaches, discussing what the next moves are, what I have do to possibly make a run for a spot."

Asked about Canadiana in her household, she cracked: "Beer."

"We're a Canadian family," she added with a laugh. "We're just on the wrong side of the border."

In fact, Caitlin, now 22, spent her first 13 summers in South Porcupine. And her dad, after years as an associate coach in Buffalo, coached the Hamilton Bulldogs to an AHL title this spring.

While Caitlin struggled Tuesday in trying to impress Canadian coach Lori Sippel, there is no doubt she is a player. She led the Atlantic Coast Conference in batting in '07 with a .452 average. Her 155 total bases, which included 11 home runs and an ACC-leading 20 doubles, was the second-best total in ACC history and she was a top 10 finalist for collegiate player of the year.

What makes her numbers even more impressive is that she only really started concentrating on softball when she headed to college. Until that time, she was a high-scoring hockey forward -- her Syracuse Stars team won two under-19 national championships -- and had actually made a number of school visits while entertaining hockey scholarships.

"I'd started narrowing down the schools, then had to redo my visits for softball. I was too nervous to tell my dad I wanted to switch. I was like 'Uummmm.' But I think I just might have gotten burnt out by it and wanted to go in a different direction."

She played with boys up until her freshman year in high school when "they started getting big and my dad pulled the plug."

"She doesn't like to hear this, but she was a better hockey player than she is a softball player," said Don. "But her first love is obviously softball. She had a fantastic year this year."

Lever, who met with Sippel after the game, said he'd love to see his daughter get an opportunity to represent Canada internationally.

"All she needs is a chance. They give her a chance, there's no doubt in my mind."

Whether she gets that chance is up to Sippel.

With Van Boxmeer thrown into the mix this year as a national team rookie, Sippel has a glut of hard-hitting outfielders.

"We're in a situation where we're trying to shorten our pool [of players]," said Sippel. "We're always looking, but at the same time we know our pool pretty well. She's brought it to our attention, so we're going to keep our eye on her. Obviously, her numbers are excellent and it's really nice that she's here playing so we can get to see her."

Said Caitlin Lever: "It would be a cool thing, a great thing to be part of. If I'm given the opportunity, I'll go balls out for it."

Meanwhile, after being just a pinch hitter the first three games of Canada Cup, Van Boxmeer got the start in leftfield on Tuesday in front of aunts and uncles from West Vancouver.

"I felt like a caged animal," she said. "Man, let me go, let me go. It's hard to understand that I'm new and have to earn my spot. But I think I'm proving myself to this program that this is where I want to be and I can get the job done."