31 National Teams – 650 Volunteers

The SURREY 2016 Women’s World Softball Championship event is set to hit the diamond Friday July 15^th and has it’s sights set on the advocacy and development of the sport of Fastpitch.

In conversation with players, coaches and team officials it goes without saying that team Canada is more focused than ever to capture the title and banner on home soil.

The day prior to the event the event was kicked-off with a media “meet and greet” at Softball City on Diamond 1 where members of the media had a chance to have a one-on-one with players/coaches and event organizers.

Upon entering you could not miss the changes that have taken place since the event last year and given the magnitude of this, the only way to describe it in one word is “Wow”!!

This is the first World Championship in any sport to be hosted in the City of Surrey and it is the largest International single sport event in Canadian history as far as number of participating nations.

There are 31 National teams attending in which 11 have never participated in a world championship in any sport, which come to think of it is a feat unto itself.

Attending are over 500 participating Athletes, over 190 delegates, which include coaches, trainers, doctors and WBSC representatives.

The 15^th WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship has appointed 30 Certified Umpires from 18 Countries to officiate calling over 120 games.

This is a story that grabs my heart and I will have more on this throughout the event.

It’s expected that the ten day event will attract over 125,000 fans that will not be disappointed.

The City of Surrey has installed new bleachers in the outfield, added additional parking and attracted more vendors than in the past.

In addition they have attracted over 650 volunteers to make this a huge success and it goes without saying, they are truly the “unsung hero’s” that make this happen.

So if you are planning on attending, make a point of saying a special “thank you” as these are two words that go a long way and they will appreciate it more than you know.

Following their Gold-Medal victory at the 2015 PAN AM Games in Toronto a medal placing is not out of the equation for this squad.

Being ranked fourth in the world does put additional pressure on the team, but as Head Coach Mike Smith told me “the team is up to the challenge and come into this with a winning mentality, so don’t count them out.”

We had the chance to catch up with North Delta’s Jennifer Yee and chatted about how she approached this event and she mentioned “it’s all about bringing a winning attitude to the park each and every day and that’s something the Coaches have stated since last year’s event.”

Speculation is this might be her last, but one never knows what the future holds for any athlete, but just watching Jen and her team-mates in the “throw-around” you know they mean business.

In conversation with Greg Timm, Chairman of the event he mentioned “Surrey 2016 is truly an exceptional world championship to host – we have the biggest single sport team event in Canadian history in our back yards, and we are hoping the people of British Columbia will come out to not only support their home team, but all the participating teams that have travelled so far to compete.”

Team Canada opens the event scheduled to play Great Britain July 15th at 8:15 pm immediately following the opening ceremonies, which are held at 6:30 pm.

The event has placed the teams in eight (8) pools in which Canada is placed in Pool D with Great Britain, Ireland and Uganda – yes Uganda!

When it comes to coaching as we know it, not all countries are up to the standards that we are used to in Canada and teaching comes from various sources and/or individuals.

While the team from Uganda are in town they will be getting first-hand instruction from the South Surrey White Rock Minor Softball Association will be training Female Coaches from Uganda Africa.

This is the brainchild of Ruth Hoffman which has come to be known as the “Pearl of Africa” which all resulted in the Langley Little League Baseball team traveling to Uganda to play a series.

This came to being after the Uganda team was denied visas to enter the US to compete in the 2011 Little League World Series.

Sportswave photographer Laird Allan and I had the luxury of attending the media event hosted by the Laura Balance Media Group, where Hayley Thomas graciously assisted and helped with our requests, to which we are thankful and appreciated her assistance.

Sportswave will keep you posted on the Championship, the teams and behind the scenes untold stories, so stay tuned for a fun filled event.

Various Pools:

• Pool A: Japan, Venezuela, France
• Pool B: USA, Brazil, Austria, Israel
• Pool C; Australia, Mexico, Switzerland, Serbia
• Pool D: Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Uganda
• Pool E: Chinese Taipei, Puerto Rico, India, Ecuador
• Pool F: Netherlands, Czech Republic, Philippines, Pakistan
• Pool G: China, Cuba, Guatemala, Greece
• Pool H: New Zealand, Italy, Kenya, Peru

All participating nations in the WBSC Women’s Softball Championship represent a Global reach spanning across all regions which include:

Africa, Asia, Europe, Central – North and South America and Oceania.

Great to see Vancouver Province reporter Steve Ewen having fun on the Diamond