The International Softball Federation announced today that Whitehorse will host the 2012 ISF XIII Women's World Championships.

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We're ecstatic,” said George Arcand, executive director of Softball Yukon and chair of the organizing committee for the 2012 event.

"We're looking forward to doing it; it's going to be a tremendous experience.”

Softball Yukon hosted the 2008 ISF Junior Men's World Championships, which gave the ISF an idea of the hospitality the Yukon can offer. The successful hosting of the world juniors encouraged the ISF to choose the Yukon capital as the 2012 host of the senior women's championships.

While the events will be similar in some aspects, Arcand said, the style of play will be different.

"They're a bit of a different game,” he said.

Arcand said it wasn't a huge surprise when the city was given the duty of hosting the 2012 spectacle, after the success of the junior championships.

"Because we have that track record, we thought we had a pretty good opportunity to be given it,” Arcand said.

The tournament will be spread over 10 days, and the Yukon's 20 hours of summer light and near-light will provide a unique experience for the players, organizers said.

Normally, it is a requirement of tournament hosts that the fields be lit, but that was waived for Whitehorse. The tournament will still be the regular length.

"It just allows us to host without using the lights, which is a requirement,” said Arcand.

When Whitehorse hosted the world juniors, it marked a first.

"That was the first time it had been north of 60,” said Arcand.

About 370 players on 16 teams from all over the world will attend the championships.

Arcand said that so far, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Venezuela, Argentina, Italy, Greece, South Africa and Britain will be sending teams.

Besides the players, Arcand said, fans and other guests will be in Whitehorse for the event.

"Somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,500 (people), I would guess,” he said.

The championships in Whitehorse will help further boost tourism in the Yukon, Arcand predicted.

"It'll just add to the summer tourism,” said Arcand. "There'll be a tremendous guarantee of people here at that time.”

Work is already beginning on the championships, which are tentatively scheduled for some time in July of 2012. Arcand said they are working with local hotels to secure accommodations for the visitors who will attend.

"We'll start the planning; it will start now,” he said.

Softball Yukon plans to do an impact study soon, then begin gathering volunteers to get the event organized.

The next step will be to secure funding with the federal and Yukon governments, but Arcand said he is unsure just how much they will be asking for at this time.

When Softball Yukon organized the junior championships, it was informed it would be hosting much closer to the event.

"Last time we did it, we had less time (to plan),” he said.

Even if organizers had the same amount of time, Arcand said, they would be able to pull it off due to the infrastructure already in place.

"Because our facility is here and intact, there's not as much to worry about,” he said.

Softball Canada will select players based on camps closer to the date, but Arcand said it is unlikely there will be any Yukon players.

The ISF XII Women's World Championships will be held June 23 to July 2 in Venezuela.