Native fastball nationals returning to P.G. in 2020
Having hosted the Canadian Native Fastball Championships in 2016, Harley Desjarlais thought Prince George was perhaps a decade away from hosting the event again.
But it’s coming back to the city next summer. Prince George submitted the only bid last weekend in Winnipeg and the national tournament will return July 31-Aug. 2, 2020.
If it’s anything like the last time it came around, Prince George fastball fans won’t be the only ones to benefit. Prince George Tourism estimates the 2016 tournament and its 77 teams provided a $4.5 million boost to the city’s economy.
“We had it in 2016 and we didn’t think we’d be up in the queue for eight or 12 years so we’re quite happy to have it again,” said Desjarlais, the tournament organizing committee chairman.
“We had an indication that nobody from B.C. was bidding on it and we decided to put one together with the city of Prince George. There’s still a bit of hard work involved. We had to identify a title sponsor, we had to get a commitment for facilities, and we had to get letters of support from the surrounding indigenous community and Softball BC to show that the city was behind us.
“An event of this magnitude is perfect for a city of this size because the city is very appreciative of the impact it has. It tends to get lost in a bigger city like Edmonton or Winnipeg. We get excellent response and we consider the city of Prince George to be our partners in this.”
The 2016 tournament was well-attended and turned a profit, which Desjarlais says has been turned over to the local men’s and junior teams to fund their travel to out-oftown tournaments.
“To us, it’s not just about running the tournament, it’s about creating a legacy that allows us to grow the game,” said Desjarlais. “It’s not just a fastball tournament, it’s a cultural gathering. We have a lot of people in Prince George who have family right across the prairies and right here in B.C. as well. Traditionally they meet once a year (at the Canada Day tournament in Prince George) but this will be a lot bigger than that and we’re really excited about it. We’re going to get a lot of the aboriginal organizations involved too.”
Desjarlais expects hotels and restaurants will be full next again year when as many as 80 teams in five divisions come for the three-day event. In case of weather delays, the fields at Carrie Jane Gray Park and Freeman Park will also be reserved for Monday, Aug. 3. Teams will compete in open men’s, open women’s, masters men’s, masters women’s and junior divisions.
“It could be challenging because we have a finite amount of parks here, and we want to get everybody home by Sunday night,” said Desjarlais.
The Big Guy Lake Kings of Prince George finished third in the open men’s division at the national tournament which wrapped up Sunday in Winnipeg. The Kings lost 4-3 in the A final to the Peguis Redmen of Manitoba, the eventual champions. Prince George went 3-0 in the round-robin, starting with a 15-0 win over the Peguis Chiefs. They beat the Standing Buffalo Dakotas 8-1, then beat the Ontario Smoke 4-3 on a walkoff double from Eli Jules.
In the A-B final. the Kings lost 6-4 to the Ontario Smoke.
The Prince George River Kings finished third at nationals in the 2016 and Desjarlais promised the Prince George men’s team will be even more competitive when it has home field advantage next year.
“We were really disappointed coming in third – even though it is in retrospect it’s not bad – because we wanted to come into next year as defending champions,” said Desjarlais. “We’re going to be very hungry next year and we’ll have as good of a team as possible for our fans. In 2016, a lot of us were more focused on running the tournament and the team was an afterthought. This time around we’re going to be a lot more focused on winning and putting the best team forward.”
Prince George last won nationals 13 years ago, which marked the end of a seven-year stretch of consecutive Canadian titles, from 1999-2006. The Prince George Lumber Kings won it the first time in 1993.