After the major snowfall last weekend, most Whitehorse residents are hesitant to really welcome spring, but at least one resident is already anxious to get the next sports season started.

Softball Yukon executive director George Arcand welcomed a few special guests to the territory this week and they helped make a few major announcements.

During the annual meet and greet night Wednesday, held at Sport Yukon, Arcand was flanked by Softball Canada president Kevin Quinn, C.E.O. Hugh Mitchener and the coach of Team Canada's senior men's fast-pitch team, Mark Smith, as he confirmed Whitehorse will hold two more major events in 2007.

The slo-pitch coed national championships and the masters men's championships will take pace August 2-5. Unlike some national events which only feature an elite A division, these championships will have D, C and B categories as well, and will be designed similar to Dustball, in the sense of self-seeding.

The two new events will come on the heels of the Western Canadian Masters Fast-pitch Championships, which are already scheduled for this summer in Whitehorse.

And as hundreds of ball players descend on the Yukon capital over the next couple of years, they will be welcomed to a newly-named and recently-renovated complex.

Thanks to a new, 20-year deal with Northland Beverages, the Takhini Softball Complex is now the Pepsi Softball Centre. Northland Beverages has already been a sponsor of Softball Yukon for 24 years, but with the new agreement, they have upped the ante, to a total of about $150,000.

Arcand said initially, Northland Beverages will be spending about $50,000 on new signage, as well as other added details to the park. After that, they will contribute $5,000 cash each year for the next 20.

'Obviously, we're very happy with that,' he said.

Arcand had hoped to show off the newly-renovated ball park to his visitors this week, but the snowfall hindered those plans. He did show them pictures of what the park looked like prior to the work done on the infields in the off-season� a $90,000 project and what it will look like now.

The new infields are made of completely different material� volcanic rock from Quesnel, B.C., which is crushed and then mixed with a binder and clay. The new surface will ensure safer games for the athletes, as well as 'true hops' on balls hit within the infield. It's also extremely maintenance friendly.

Softball Yukon received a grant from the territorial government's Community Development Fund for $75,000, in order to complete the project.

Smith said from what he saw in the pictures, he doesn't have any worries about major competitions being held in Whitehorse, in what he called a very nice facility.

'Yukon is obviously unique by virtue of where it's located, said the Softball Canada Hall of Fame member and five-time Pan American Games gold medalist as a pitcher for Canada.

'I think your hospitality, combined with the geography and the beauty that come with it, makes it an ideal place.'

So ideal, in fact, that Arcand and Quinn have already been discussing the feasibility of a world championship coming to Whitehorse at some point in the future.

Arcand expects to know further details on that possibility in the next couple of months, but for now, things really seem to be coming together for the local softball organization. And Softball Canada for that matter.

While Quinn, Smith and Mitchener were in town, they also made presentations with regard to the long-term athlete development model, a recent addition across the country in about 20 different sports.

'It's a scientific approach to the development of athletes,' explained Quinn. 'It includes both the elite and recreation side, both fast-pitch and slo-pitch.

'The idea is to get more youth athletes involved in the sport and keep them there.'

The development model features a set program across the country for each age group, learning certain skills in each group, so that young athletes from the Yukon or N.W.T. will have similar skill sets to those in Ontario and the maritimes.

'There is a huge will by Sport Canada that Canadian sports follow this model,' said Arcand. 'We're constantly being asked where we are with the long-term athlete development model. If we don't go there, it will affect our funding (from the federal government).

'It's not something that's just an idea. It has to happen at every level.'

Quinn, Smith and Mitchener have visited nine provinces and territories so far on their tour to promote the model. Newfoundland, the N.W.T. and Nunavut are the three remaining places. Quinn said it shows softball is trying to take the lead.

One of the key components before the program actually really gets going, is all of the provincial and territorial organizations agreeing on how to offset the costs, since implementing the model will demand more funding.

'Right now, we have commitment from all the provinces and territories that it's the right thing to do,' said Quinn. 'It's just getting the right dollar amount. That's going to be the next discussion.

'We'd like to start working (on the long-term athlete development model) in 2007, so we have to come to an agreement on exactly what the figure is by our annual meeting in November.'

Arcand said from the meetings Softball Yukon had this week with the Canadian executives, they fully support the new model and will be paying additional money for it. However, that doesn't mean it will come out of the pockets of Yukon softball players.

In the Yukon, the minor softball program is free for kids, and Arcand said that won't change.

'The same goes for adults. We don't want to be adding to what they pay right now either. From our point of view, we want to find other ways to pay for (the new model).'

Each province and territory can make its own decision on how to pay for the program, so some organizations may choose to charge their members more. But the bottom line, said Quinn, is the long-term athlete development model will 'drastically change sport.'

'It's going to change our sport forever.'

Smith, who is the director of sport development for Nova Scotia, has also taken on the role as manager of the development model. He plans to spend the next year informing people of the program's virtues and also let them know it is essential if softball is going to go any farther than it already has.

'Moms and dads all over this country make decisions every day on the form of exercise for their children. Softball is one of many options they have to choose from.

'If we want to be a major player, we've got to drastically upgrade the quality of programs and services we offer.'