The Yukon’s road to the 2015 and 2016 national slo-pitch championships has been altered again.

The local qualification process has now been split into separate tournaments for 2015 and 2016, presenting the possibility that different teams could represent the territory at each tournament.

The local playdowns to determine the Yukon team for the 2015 nationals will now take place next weekend, May 22 to 24 at the Pepsi Softball Centre.

The 2015 Senior Men’s Canadian Slo-Pitch Championship will be hosted in Dorchester, Ont., Aug. 9 to 15, with the slightly shorter women’s tournament running Aug. 11 to 15.

Meanwhile, the local playdowns for the 2016 tournament, which will be held in the Yukon capital, are now scheduled for July 31 to Aug. 2.

The latest changes were made to accommodate as many Yukon players as possible.

“It takes away that first piece where one team does all,” Softball Yukon executive director George Arcand said this morning. “But that’s OK.”

Softball Yukon announced they would host the 2016 slo-pitch championships just prior to the current slo-pitch season.

Since then, it has been a struggle to find a weekend that worked for everyone interested in attempting to qualify.

Arcand hosted a meeting last Saturday that saw 50 ballplayers attend to voice their thoughts.

Originally, one qualifying tournament was scheduled for June 26 to 28 with the winning teams slated to represent the territory at both the 2015 and 2016 Canadian championships.

That date was then changed to the solstice weekend, June 19 to 21, before the latest date changes were announced this week.

“That would have been great,” Arcand said of the idea that local teams qualify for both national tournaments and gain experience at the 2015 event. “However ... that’s the choices that were made in the discussions.”

The teams that qualify for the 2015 slo-pitch championships will receive financial assistance from Softball Yukon in order to make the trip.

All participating players must be residents of the territory.

The 2016 Senior Men’s Canadian Slo-Pitch Championships will be held in Whitehorse Aug. 7 to 13, 2016, while the women’s tournament will take place Aug. 9 to 13.

Local player representation was key to Softball Yukon making their latest tournament bid.

Whitehorse has previously hosted the national slo-pitch championships – which sees pitchers lob the ball towards home plate – in the 1980s.

Last year’s championships were held in Fort McMurray, Alta., with two Ontario teams claiming victories.

The Whitehorse Co-Ed Slo-Pitch League kicked off its season this week with a record 58 teams competing – for a total of 870 players.