Dave Leaderhouse, Special to the Herald
More than a decade of planning, fundraising, organizing and hosting was recognized by the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday when the World Cup of Softball host committee was presented with the Sports Organization of the Year Award at the annual induction ceremony at the Ches Leach Lounge.
“To bring three world championships to the city, we gained global respect,” says 2025 World Softball Championship host committee co-chairman Ian Litzenberger. “I think we emphasized what the city can do.”
The majority of the host committee has been together for more than a decade as a small group came up with the idea to host a world-class event and things moved forward from there.
When an application was first submitted to the World Softball Congress they were told that the facility would have to be upgraded. That prompted the first step in the process when Project Triple Play raised more than $1.6 million to create Rotary Park and also upgrade a second diamond at Prime Ministers’ Park.
The entire complex became known as Max Power Ball Park and once the upgrades were completed an application to host the 2018 U18 Men’s Softball World Cup was submitted. That event was a resounding success generating millions of dollars into the local and provincial economy and as a result the local organizers were given carte blanche to put their name forward for future events.
After a few years the desire to get back on the world stage hit the local organizing committee and they sought the 2025 World Cup of Softball men’s championship only there was a catch: they would also have to host a group stage tournament in 2024 in order for their request to be approved.
That tournament in 2024 also exceeded expectations setting the stage for the eight-team world event last year and when everything was done Prince Albert had not only raised the bar for hosting the championship, but had left a legacy of world-class facilities that are the envy of most, if not all, centres in the county.
Litzenberger says the long hours put in by everyone involved was “100 per cent worth it” and that nothing like this can be accomplished without the support of local businesses and those who volunteered their time to help out.
“It was 11 long years and countless hours of work from a countless number of volunteers,” says Litzenberger. “A big thanks goes out to everyone.”
There are no plans to seek yet another world championship in the city, but should that day come the work of the local host committee has left a lasting footprint in Prince Albert. What makes the success of this venture even more gratifying is that youth teams will benefit tremendously for years to come and for the time being, at least, provincial softball groups will be knocking on the door to see if it is possible for the city to host championship events at that level.
