Elsie Wingrove grew up playing ball on a farm in Saskatchewan, Canada.  She continued learning the game with her brothers, sisters, and father on the family homestead until she joined an adult girls' fast-pitch softball team at age 9.  During her formative learning years, she also went on to excel in track and field, ice hockey, and curling.  In her late teens and early twenties, she added bowling to her bag of talents. 

 While working as a bank teller and attending Saskatoon Technical College, she kept her softball skills sharp by playing for her college's girls team.  This is where she was discovered by an AA league scout and accepted an invitation to spring training in Pascagoula, Mississippi in 1946.  She spent a majority of her time in the AAGPBL as a good defensive outfielder for the Grand Rapids Chicks and was a member of their 1947 Championship team.