Prince Albert is once again ready to be on the world softball stage.
The Group B qualifiers for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Mens’ Softball World Cup will take place in Prince Albert from July 10-14 at Prime Ministers’ Park.
Organizing committee co-chair Derek Smith says they are in the final stages of planning for the event.
“It’s been a busy couple years but we’re down to the crunch now, three weeks to go and our local organizing committee is working hard. It’s all the final touches in terms of signage and all our sponsorship is pretty much in place so that’s really good.”
Smith says the softball community has been very supportive of the event, with volunteer positions being filled very quickly.
“Our volunteers are pretty much tied up. We’re just pretty much scheduling them all now for the different areas. We’ve had a great support and great volunteer base here in Prince Albert that’s been with us for past World Championships and national events. Our volunteers will be ready in all areas to greet the fans.”
With the event less then a month away, Smith says members of the committee have already been contacting teams that will make their way to Prince Albert next month.
“Our team liaisons are starting to contact their country’s team liaisons and getting schedules together and figuring out what they’re going to do in their off hours. We’ll be welcoming Hong Kong, Singapore, Israel, Argentina, New Zealand, and then Team Canada as well.”
Prince Albert hosted the WBSC World Junior Men’s Softball World Championship in 2018. That year, Prince Albert welcomed teams from Japan, Argentina, Australia, Mexico, Denmark, South Africa, India, New Zealand, USA, Czech Republic, Guatemala, Hong Kong and the host Canada.
Smith says hosting the Junior Men back in 2018 helped set the stage for hosting both the qualifier this year and the Men’s Softball World Cup in 2025.
“It’s really special in being able to host back-to-back, not only the qualifier, but the actual World Championship. They were with us in 2018 and saw the attendance, our organizing committee, how successful that tournament was. I think that really played into our bid to host these next two years.”
Group A qualifiers concluded in Hermosillo, Mexico earlier this month. Australia and the Dominican Republic have both qualified to be in Prince Albert in 2025. The Group C qualifier is scheduled for September in Oklahoma City, USA.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
