Softball Canada will bid to host the 2016 ISF Women's World Championships, and if successful, the tournament will be played at Softball City in Surrey, British Columbia, home of the Canadian Open Fastpitch Championships (formerly the Canada Cup).
The bid will go forward to the International Softball Federation (ISF) Congress scheduled for October, 2013 in Cartagena, Colombia. At that time, the full membership of the ISF will vote on the awarding of the host city.
Great volunteers
The Canadian Open Fastpitch Society, which runs the Canadian Open Championships, is made up of volunteers who have a long history of hosting successful major softball events dating back to the early 1990s. The Canadian Open features some of the top national women’s teams in the world, along with senior women’s club teams, and tournaments for top Under-19 and Under-16 teams are run alongside the senior competitions.
The GB Women's Fastpitch Team played in the Canada Cup (as it was then called) in 2002 and in the Canadian Open Championships in 2012, reaching the final in the Elite Women's Division. The GB Under-19 Women's Team played in the Under-19 event at the Canadian Open in 2011.
Open tournament
The 2016 event will be the first time since 1994 that the Women’s World Championship has been run as an Open Tournament. Since 1998, entrants have had to qualify from the ISF's six World Regions, with participation capped at 16 teams.
ISF World Championships are now held on a two-year cycle and the next Women’s World Championship will be held in Haarlem, Netherlands in 2014. Softball Canada has previously hosted Women’s World Championships in St John’s, Newfoundland (1994), Saskatoon Saskatchewan (2002) and Whitehorse, Yukon (2012), where the GB Women's Team competed and finished 11th.
High honour
Greg Timm, Chairman of the Canadian Open Fastpitch Society, calls the nomination to host the event an honour.
“It is a tremendous privilege to represent Canada as the bid city for this important international event,” Greg said. “As an organization, we are known world-wide for hosting superior events, thanks to the dedicated group of over 400 individuals from throughout the community who volunteer annually at the Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship.
“Our vision is to run the best softball World Championship ever run in the history of ISF World Championships,” Greg added. “This will help us to reach our goal of promoting and encouraging young athletes from our country to become involved in this sport by showcasing the world’s elite, as well as by providing a spotlight on the up-and-coming stars of tomorrow.”
Former GB Softball General Manager Bob Fromer said, “Having taken three GB teams to Softball City over the course of a decade, it's clearly one of the finest softball facilities in the world and will be a great setting for the ISF World Championships.
“But what really makes the facility special,” Bob added, “is the tremendously helpful and friendly volunteers, who make every team feel welcome and bend over backwards to solve every problem. They generate the kind of atmosphere in which the World Championships should be played.”