A team of African softball players will be playing in a British Columbian field of dreams after local supporters sponsored them to come to Canada.

A group of softball enthusiasts have spent the last two years holding fundraisers and collecting donations in order to raise the $45,000 to bring an entire women's team to play in the upcoming Women's World Softball Championship in Surrey.

The effort was partially spearheaded by 13-year-old Dakota Keith, who met two of the players when they were in B.C. two years ago and spent five months with her team.

As soon as they left, Keith launched a zealous mission to bring them back.

"They spent the time here to learn so that they could take it back to Uganda and ever since then, I've loved them and I just wanted to help their team out and bring them here for the world championships," she said.

The Uganda national women's team touched down at the Vancouver airport last weekend, and Keith was there to greet them.

"I had butterflies in my stomach because of how excited I was and when I saw them coming down the escalator I just started jumping up and down with joy," she said.

The championships are being held in Surrey from July 15 to 24.

Janet Mbabazi, who plays first base on the Ugandan team, said the 14,000-kilometre journey was an eye-opening one for the women, only four of whom had been on a plane – or left the country.

"It was pretty fun, watching my friends get on to the plane for the very first time," she said.

Many were in disbelief that the trip was even happening.

Rosemary Jopawitt, the team's pitcher, was cautiously optimistic their dream to play in Canada would come true.

"We were not sure this was going to happen but some very wonderful people kept saying it was going to happen. And it was finally became a reality," she said.

"We have been overwhelmed by the love."

Getting the team to Canada wasn't the only challenge: With only one baseball diamond in their area, the ladies have done most of their training on cricket pitches and soccer fields.

They also don't play with equipment.

"The outfielders would not use gloves -- they would just use their bare hands," said Mbabazi.

"In a team of nine, you would find only three have gloves, so the rest are using bare hands for playing and it's really fun."

Thrilled to represent Uganda in the international tournament, the women want to use their new skills to inspire others when they return home.

"This event I hope is going to open up a wave for the young ones," said Mbabazi.

"I have to pass the torch. Hopefully in a few years, they'll be playing here."

And Mbabazi wants to return too, but next time, as a coach to the next generation of African softball players.

The women won't just be returning home with stories and skills. Nikki Keith, Dakota's mom, is helping some of the women get certified in scorekeeping and umpiring, so they can get jobs in their home country.

"Right now they're lucky if they make $170 a month. We want them to have a future – get the skills they need so they can live a happy life," she said.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Christina Heydanus