The small community of Oakville is where Joan Ingram began a career in softball and curling that led to induction into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and placed her among the five finalists for Manitoba Female Athlete of the 20th Century. The teenager played a year of senior softball in Brandon before moving to Winnipeg to join CUAC Blues in the early 1950s. A perennial senior league all-star, she anchored the team at shortstop during a string of provincial championships from 1957 to 1973. An excellent hitter who had a good glove and a strong arm, Ingram also caught for Blues when needed. CUAC won the first Canadian senior women’s championship in 1965 and that championship team was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame in 2002.

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