Whitehorse to host 20 teams in competition’s second largest field ever

In 104 days, Whitehorse will host more than 400 athletes and their fans for the 2017 Men’s World Softball Championship, event chairman George Arcand said today.

The event, which runs from July 7 to 16 at the Pepsi Softball Centre will feature 20 teams from around the world competing for the win.

This marks the second largest field of teams since 1996, when 22 teams participated in the championship in Midland, Michigan.

“This is a great opportunity to showcase our territory to the rest of the world while providing residents with fast-paced games and a caliber of fast-pitch they would not normally see,” said Arcand as he addressed media at a press conference this morning.

As fresh snow blanketed the streets outside the Sport Yukon foyer, Community Services Minister John Streiker took the podium.

“It’s really exciting when we get world-class sporting events here in the Yukon,” he said. “The Yukon continues to sort of punch above its weight when it comes to sports, it’s really quite something that we’re hosting world championships.”

Whitehorse has previously hosted the Junior Men’s World Softball Championships in 2008 and 2015 and the 2012 Women’s World Softball Championship.

When the World Softball Federation considers bids, their first question is do you have lights? Arcand said.

"We say, no, but we do,” he laughed. “We have lots of daylight.”

With 20 countries competing, Arcand said he expects to see 103 games played in the 10-day tournament, which means running six games per day in the round-robin on each of the two fields.

“Everybody loves our ballparks,” he said. “There should be no issues other than weather.”

Today, the World Baseball Softball Federation announced the 20-team field that would be competing in July.

Canada will attempt to defend its first world title since 1992, which it won at the last world championship in 2015 in Saskatoon. Silver medallist New Zealand and bronze medallist Venezuela will also be competing.

In addition, Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Great Britain, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey and the United States.

This will be India and Turkey’s debuts at the men’s world championship.

In addition to the main event, Softball Yukon and Team Canada players will be offering a clinic for minor softball players on July 5. Kids between the ages of 10 and 14 will enhance their skills as they work with members of the national team.

Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans will be making the trip north to play a show at the Yukon Arts Centre on July 6 as well as the opening ceremony on July 7.

Arcand said he hadn’t “crunched the numbers” yet, but that in 2012 when Whitehorse hosted 16 teams for the women’s world championships, there was an economic impact of more than $3 million.

“This will be bigger,” said Arcand. “We’re going to see a lot of people coming up just to watch it.”