Stepping up to the plate: Canada Summer Games team cheers on their bat boy

The tables were turned on Friday for a Canada Summer Games volunteer.

After spending the week being the bat boy for Team Newfoundland and Labrador at the Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba's Luca Fais, 13, took to the field at the AAA Peewee Provincials with the whole Newfoundland and Labrador team cheering him on.

"They were super cool. They were really good role models for me," Fais said.  

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Fais has been cheering on Team Newfoundland and Labrador each day of the Games and said he really connected with the players, who are a few years older than he is.

"I learned a lot about character. They are all super motivating with each other and they were a very good group of people," Fais said.

But Fais also made a big impact on the players.

"It was pretty easy for us because he would always bring a big bag of spits [sunflower seeds]," said 17-year-old Team Newfoundland and Labrador player Cole Tucker with a laugh.

When Fais mentioned to the team that he would be the pitcher for his own baseball team, Steinbach's Carillon Sultans, at the peewee baseball tournament, it was an easy call for the players to load into a bus and go support their bat boy.

"For us it was really cool because it was a great opportunity to give back to him because he did a lot of cool stuff for us," Tucker said.

"He was there every day, every game, in the hot sun, grinding it out for us. We thought it would be nice to come and show support for him as well."

The team was transported to Winnipeg's Optimist Park by True Sport, a non-profit and national movement that promotes good sport values in Canada.

"Role models are really important. Positive role models are incredibly important in amateur sport and professional sport," said Greg Gunther, who works with both Sport Manitoba and True Sport.

The team leaned against a fence at the park and cheered on their bat boy — now the starting pitcher taking on the pressure of the game.

While he was a little nervous, Fais said the experience gave him a new goal that will last beyond Friday's game.

"My goal is now to play in the Canada Games," he said.

• Full coverage of the 2017 Canada Summer Games