Ask a Dinos fastball player what most people get wrong about her sport, and she doesn’t hesitate to answer.
“They assume it’s exactly like baseball, just the girls' version,” said third-year second baseman Katie Berg.
The rules may rhyme, but the field is smaller, the pitching is a windmill blur, and the game moves at a speed that changes the strategy entirely — more bunting, a shorter game, less swinging for the fences.
“Because the field is so much smaller, it’s a lot faster. You got to think a little bit quicker,” said Berg.
Finding a place to compete
Berg’s path to second base started in a baseball dugout at age five, following her older brother into the sport. As Berg grew to love the game, it became clear that competitive women's baseball opportunities were thin so at nine years old she moved into competitive fastball where she could play in a serious environment alongside other girls.
With several university teams nationwide, Berg initially launched her fastball journey at the University of Saskatchewan. However, after observing the Calgary Dinos' dugout—where the players cheered with vibrant, effortless camaraderie—it sparked her desire to transfer.
An email exchange with the Dinos fastball coach Neal Harlos led to an offer, and before she knew it Berg was transferred to the University of Calgary and playing for the Dinos. For a player who moved to Calgary without a social net, the team became one.
"It's kind of like having a little family away from my actual home,” said Berg.
The culture shows up in the team's small rituals: a cowboy hat handed to the game's MVP and at least one team run to Peter’s Drive-In every season. Bus rides with the speakers on and everyone dancing, a teammate's devotion to Nickelback’s “Burn It to the Ground” to pump themselves up for the match or the dugout “pure noise,” with everyone standing up, cheering and jumping around.
On the pitch, it’s volume that keeps the team grounded and focused. Spread far apart, it’s easy to get lost in the wind; but as a centre fielder Berg acts as one of the loudest voices out there, keeping everyone threaded together.
Club in name, varsity in expectations
Though designated as a club sport because of technicalities surrounding varsity status, the fastball team operates under top-tier performance and training standards, matching the intensity and competitive drive of any football game.
Support from the Dinos Athletics Department proves just how valuable their club sports are.
Wearing the Dinos name and accessing the varsity workout room for practice is just the start of support that the team receives. They practice throughout the winter in the Red Gym and have year-round access to Absolute Sports next to the football stadium, where pitching machines and batting cages are available.
During the season, Tuesdays are the team's fielding practice days, Wednesdays focus on batting and Thursdays and Fridays are for strength and conditioning, often by the roster's initiative.
“We take it very seriously. We still have a lot of the same expectations as a varsity program. We're expected to show up to every practice. We're expected to do our own stuff outside of practice,” said Berg.
Berg also shared that coach Harlos leads a demanding team but without losing the person inside the player, pushing hard while still checking on academics, injuries and the mental side of playing a mentally taxing sport.
Five games in two days
The season is short and dense, with roughly five games every weekend, first pitch often at 9 a.m., warm-up an hour prior, putting the team at the hotel doors ready to go by 7:30. With such a tight schedule, players have to keep on top of everything from their sleep to their academics.
“You definitely have to be physically prepared for it, otherwise you’re going to burn out pretty quickly,” said Berg about away games.
At second base — middle infield, alongside shortstop — the ball finds her constantly.
“You have to be ready for anything to come at you,” said Berg. She explained she has to run the next play in her head before every pitch.
The hardest skill is resetting after an error. In a fast-paced game, a mistake can be a coffin — but dwelling on it drives the nail in.
Berg’s personal fix is to physically shake it off, continue communicating with her teammates and keep herself grounded on the pitch, ready to face the next pitch rather than dwell on the previous one.
The league stretched from Saskatchewan to B.C., with Westerns hosted in Calgary as a neutral home base. Nationals is where it gets complicated with Ontario colleges such as Durham and St. Clair in the mix. Unlike varsity sports, which are restricted to USport member universities, the club sport status enables non-USport institutions and colleges to face off against the Dinos.
“The colleges are super competitive; there is no deficit in skill,” said Berg.
At the time of the interview, the Dinos team sat third in the league at a 7-6 streak and two regular-season weeks left before Westerns.
The Dinos Fastball Team schedule is found on the Dinos Athletics Website, and with the season coming to a rapid end, be sure to check out a game before it’s too late.
