There are certain programs in Canadian softball that people inside the game know immediately when they hear the name.

222’s Fastpitch has become one of them.

Not because they post the most on social media or because they chase attention, but because over the last decade, former Canadian National Team players Keith Mackintosh and Dean Holoien have quietly built one of the most respected development programs in the country out of a small Saskatchewan town better known for hockey rinks and grain elevators than Division I softball players.

And they did it almost entirely from scratch.

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The Launch of Something Special… From A Basement Discussion

“We were tired of Saskatchewan getting beat at Canadians,” Keith Mackintosh said matter-of-factly.

“We had talented athletes here, but there just wasn’t enough high-level training.”

That conversation, sitting in a basement with longtime friend and former teammate Dean Holoien became the starting point for what is now 222’s Fastpitch. 

 Neither of them, however, expected it to become this.

Both grew up in Melfort, Saskatchewan, playing the game together from a young age before eventually winning national championships and representing Canada internationally in men’s fastpitch.

After their National Team careers wrapped up following the 2009 World Championships in Saskatoon, they moved into coaching almost by accident.

At first, the idea was simple: give athletes access to the kind of training environment they simply were not getting consistently.

No shortcuts. No watered-down expectations. No pretending Canadian softball was already where it needed to be.

“We had no clue what we were doing,” Mackintosh admitted with a laugh. “It was trial by fire.”

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The Early Years Through Today: 1,500 Athletes Now In the System

The early years looked nothing like the operation 222’s has today.

Practices were held wherever they could find space — gymnasiums, soccer centres, empty facilities during Saskatchewan winters.

They started with a small group of athletes, a couple U.S. tournaments, and a belief that if the players were exposed to higher-level softball consistently enough, eventually the gap would start to close.

Slowly, it did.

Now, more than a decade later, 222’s Fastpitch works with roughly 1,500 athletes annually through camps, clinics, and team programming throughout the country. Their offseason travel program alone featured more than 160 athletes last year.

But the wins, travel, and recruiting attention are not what Mackintosh and Holoien talk about first.

It always comes back to the training.

“The tournaments are great,” Holoien said, “but it’s the training we’re most proud of.”

That philosophy shows up everywhere inside the program. The pace of practice. The accountability. The detail work. The expectation that players learn how the game is supposed to be played long before they ever step onto a college field.

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Helping Players “Know What They’re Doing” Through Year-Round Training

“Our job isn’t just getting kids into school,” Mackintosh explained.

“It’s making sure when they get there, they know what they’re doing.”

It is one of the biggest differences between 222’s and many traditional Canadian club environments.

The organization uses the offseason to immerse athletes in a much more intense style of development. Players train from August through April, then return to their summer teams better prepared physically, mentally, and fundamentally.

During that stretch, teams travel throughout the United States to compete against some of the strongest organizations in the sport.

Georgia. Arizona. California. The goal is not simply exposure, it is teaching players what elite softball actually looks and feels like.

Anyone who has spent time around high-level American travel ball understands the difference immediately. The speed of the game is faster. The expectations are higher. Mistakes are exposed quicker. Every inning feels demanding.

222’s wanted Canadian athletes living inside that environment instead of seeing it once a season and being shocked by it.

And now, increasingly, they are not just surviving in those tournaments—they are winning them.

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Moving on to the Next Level: Success in Recruiting

One of the organization’s teams recently captured a championship at an elite tournament in Georgia, another sign of how much the level of play inside the program has evolved over the years.

More importantly, the athletes coming through the system are continuing to move on to the next level in large numbers.

Nearly 200 players have gone on to post-secondary softball opportunities through the program so far, including NCAA, NAIA, JUCO, and Canadian university pathways.

Recent graduating classes have produced an especially strong run of collegiate commitments, with several athletes now competing at high levels throughout North America.

The recruiting side has evolved with the program as well.

222’s now assists athletes with video, exposure platforms, communication with schools, and recruiting education.

Last year, they even brought college coaches directly into Saskatchewan for a full practice weekend, allowing recruiters to evaluate athletes inside an actual training environment instead of only seeing them during short showcase windows.

For Canadian athletes, especially those outside major recruiting hubs, opportunities like that can completely change the trajectory of a career.

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The Origin of the “222’s”Name… Headache Pills!

Still, what may stand out most about 222’s Fastpitch is how grounded the program has remained through all of its growth.

There is no sense from Mackintosh or Holoien that they believe they have everything figured out. In fact, both openly laughed about mistakes they made early on as coaches and how much they have evolved over the years.

That humility has become part of the culture too. So has the pride they carry in where they come from.

The original “222’s” dates back to the late 1960s, when a men’s fastpitch team in Melfort was sponsored by a local drugstore owner who jokingly named the team after the old 222 headache pills because opponents found them such a headache to play against.

More than half a century later, the 222’s name not only lives on, but continues to grow.

What began in Melfort, Saskatchewan now stretches far beyond the Prairies, carried proudly across the chests of athletes competing throughout Canada and the United States.

A name once rooted in a small-town fastpitch tradition has become one respected across North America — something that old local drugstore owner likely never imagined.

Tyler Johnstone/Line Drive Canadian Correspondent