Sixteen teams vying to be world’s best, including defending champ, Team Canada

The host chair for the Men’s World Softball Championships said things are shaping up to be a good event.

“We’re in good shape,” said George Arcand. “A little grass cutting and some final touches, we’ll be fine.”

He spoke to reporters Thursday afternoon at the Pepsi Softball Centre, which has been closed since June 18, the end of the annual Softball Yukon Dustball Tournament, for preparations.

“I think the ballpark is in tremendous shape,” he said as he took a break from mowing the outfield on Pepsi 1. “The players coming in are raving about that.”

Most of the field of 16 teams had arrived, but two were still expected – one Thursday and one before noon today.

Play opened this morning with Botswana taking on Great Britain in the first game. Turkey and New Zealand were scheduled for the second game.

The opening ceremonies, at 6 p.m. at the Pepsi Softball Centre, will kick off the evening games.

Defending champion Canada will face South Africa at 7:30 p.m., while the United States will take on Argentina on Pepsi 2.

Games continue over the weekend and into Thursday. Friday and Saturday will see the championship rounds with the bronze medal game taking place July 16 at 1 p.m. and the gold medal game running at 4 p.m.

Pepsi Softball Centre will be packed with things to see and do. Two more food vendors will be at the park: Klondike Rib and Salmon and Pizza Hut.

There will also be a merchandise table stocked with a variety of goods.

“We hope everyone will come to our booth, the official supplier of consumer goods,” said Arcand. “We have no other suppliers in the city of Whitehorse that are official.”

Today’s other matchups include Hong Kong and Dominican Republic at 11 a.m., Denmark and the Czech Republic at 12:30 p.m., Australia and India at 1 p.m., and Venezuela and Japan at 2:30 p.m.