Spruce City Men’s Fastball League will play host to more than 70 teams in 5 divisions when it hosts the 2016 Canadian Native Fastball Championship.
Because of scheduling conflicts in Manitoba, Lenny’s Selects needed to find a co-host for the tournament.
It came down to PG and Vernon, with Northern BC coming out on top.
“You have to have a certain amount of fields, a certain amount of fields with lights, and a certain amount of hotels,” explains board member Sheldon Bjorklund, “The airport in Prince George has helped. That was one of the deciding factors because there’s teams from as far as Nova Scotia that will be attending this.”
This will mark PG’s third time hosting the championship, and community support has played a big role in it returning.
“Some businesses in Prince George stepped up with sponsorship money to put in some of the guarantees we have to have,” says Bjorklund, “We have to book about 20 rooms for the defending men’s champions, so the business community stepped up in the last week and really helped secure the bid.”
This only adds to Prince George’s growing reputation as a host city.
The past few months alone saw the Canada Winter Games and Midget Lacrosse Provincial Championships come to town, with the Vancouver Canucks training camp and 2017 Telus cup on the horizon.
Bjorklund has seen some incredible local talent take to the diamond over the years, and hopes interest in fastball will increase.
“All the leagues in Prince George are going to be keen on this… I know on the men’s side there’s quite a few guys that will be playing next year that didn’t play this year. So this will really help the quality of play. There’s no better place than having it at Spruce City, that’s for sure.”
The championship will take place next BC Day weekend.
