THE WORLD
BASEBALL CHALLENGE
… it’s what the world
is coming to.
www.worldbaseball.ca
PRINCE
GEORGE AWARDED PEEWEE AAA PROVINCIAL BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
February 28, 2013
It’s shaping up as a baseball extravaganza
this summer in Prince George.
Again!
There is exciting news coming off
the 2012 summer when the home teams posted great results -- the Prince George Youth Baseball Association
hosted the B.C. Minor Baseball Association’s Midget AA tournament at Citizen
Field, with the Prince George IDL Midget
Knights wearing the provincial crown and advancing to Western Canadians,
then the World Baseball Challenge Society organized the 2012 Re/Max Centre City
Baseball Canada Senior Championship – which saw the Prince George Westcana Electric Axemen capture the national title
on home soil, led by the hitting heroics of outfielder Brandon Hunter and the
pitching of, among others, star RHP Leon
Boyd, a dual-citizen who will pitch for Holland at the World Baseball Classic
in March.
The third Prince George version
World Baseball Challenge returns this summer, with dates and participating
teams to be announced by the end of March – but the latest news is all about
the city’s best “true youth” baseball team as the Prince George Knights will be
the host team for the B.C. Minor
Baseball Association’s Peewee AAA
Provincial Championship.
The event will be Aug. 8-11 (rain date, Aug. 12), and
will take place at Volunteer Park in the Hart (Heather Road). The host Knights
team will be comprised of the city’s top 11-12-year-old players (players born
in 2000 and 2001, the age group commonly associated with the ‘Little League’
age), with a total of 10 teams taking part. Debbie Augaitis will be the chair of the event, and the tournament
will be presented with support of the World Baseball Challenge Society.
“We moved from the Little League
association to B.C. Minor a few years ago, and this is not only the first time
our peewee Knights team will be hosting the AAA-level tournament, it will be
the first time Prince George will play in the AAA peewee provincials – we’ve
been in AA since moving to B.C. Minor,” said Todd Patterson, president of the Prince George Youth Baseball
Association. “This is the crown jewel tournament for B.C. Minor, and it will be
here in Prince George. It’s a strong and committed group of players and parents
that made this an exciting tournament to bid on, and working with the people
who have run the World Baseball Challenge at Citizen Field will make it a success.
We hope they have the same kind of success our IDL Midget Knights had last
summer, celebrating a championship at home.”
For the World Baseball Challenge
Society, another youth opportunity is a very exciting addition as the
world-class international tournament is planned out. These will be the two
biggest sporting events in Prince George in 2013.
“We are committed to making sure the
youth, the grassroots, get the maximum benefit from the World Baseball
Challenge, and we have been focused on that from the start,” said World Baseball Challenge Society co-chair
Shawn Rice.
“We’ve got the Toronto
Blue Jays Honda Super Camp coming to the Charles Jago Northern Sport
Centre, March 26-28, and this is the second time the Blue Jays have had former
major league players here, working with the World Baseball Challenge to teach
our young players. In 2009, we ran the successful youth camp with the local
Rotary clubs and with Baseball Canada. This is about building the game at the
grassroots level, and this Peewee AAA tournament will be an exciting match for
fans who love baseball, and always come out to support these community events.
We love seeing kids at the park, falling in love with the game.”
Sponsors who get involved with the 2013 World Baseball
Challenge will be able to also connect with the B.C. Peewee AAA Provincial
Tournament, providing even more opportunity to participate.
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SIGN-UP
FOR P.G. YOUTH BASEBALL
This weekend is the opportunity for players to sign up to
play youth baseball – at the Active Living Market (formerly known as RecMart)
at Pine Centre Mall – March 2 (9:30 am to 6 pm), and March 3 (noon to 5 pm),
and in the Kin Centre Atrium March 10 from 8 am to 5 pm. The PGYBA website is http://pgyba.com. Registration information is
available by clicking on the link on the left side of the page.
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TORONTO
BLUE JAYS HONDA SUPER CAMP LINK
To sign up, go to www.bluejays.com and click on Baseball Academy, or
directly to http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/tor/baseball_academy/honda_super_camps_en.jsp
Registrations are going well, with 100 spots available.
Dates are March 26-28 (second week of Spring Break), 8:30 – 1:30 each day.
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WORLD BASEBALL CHALLENGE SPONSORSHIPS – Some partnership opportunities
for the World Baseball Challenge/AAA Peewee Provincial Championship are nearly
sold out, but many remain available for businesses to get involved with the
city`s international tournament. To learn more, contact Shawn Rice, 250-612-9856 or shawnwbc@telus.net
For further
information/comment:
Todd Patterson, President, Prince George Youth Baseball
Association 250-981-3180
Jim Swanson, Co-Chair, WBC 250-613-7492
Shawn Rice, Marketing Director/Co-Chair, WBC 250-612-9856