{"id":25986,"date":"2015-04-30T12:52:48","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T19:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=25986"},"modified":"2015-04-30T13:34:26","modified_gmt":"2015-04-30T20:34:26","slug":"2015-wbsc-mens-world-softball-championship-media-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=25986","title":{"rendered":"2015 WBSC Men’s World Softball Championship – Media Release"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Boys are Back in Town

\"Click<\/a>
Click logo for official tournament website<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/strong><\/p>\n

The City of Saskatoon in conjunction with the Saskatoon Amateur Softball Association is pleased to announce, we will be hosting the 2015 WBSC Men\u2019s World Softball Championship, June 25- July 5. A predominant theme that we will be using for this event is \u201cthe boys are back in town\u201d, as we are excited about the return of best men\u2019s softball players on the planet to our city. Saskatoon has long been a hotbed for men\u2019s softball and will be the only city in the world to host this event three times, following highly successful events in 1988 and 2009. In the 2009 over 50,000 fans came into the two host ball parks, Bob Van Impe Stadium and Gordie Howe Fastball Field. They joined more than 400 volunteers to make this the most successful Men\u2019s World Softball Championship ever. The success enjoyed in 2009 created a $200,000 Legacy Fund that funded infrastructure projects to enhance the game of Softball and provide opportunities for growth within the youth and adult participant categories for many years. There is little doubt that when the boys cone back this year, they will create more excitement than ever. See our video at https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2m0VDKbjZd4<\/p>\n

Event Details:<\/strong>
\nNew name – The event is no longer referred to the ISF Men\u2019s World Softball Championship. It is now to be referred to as the 2015 WBSC World Men\u2019s Softball Championship<\/strong>. The name change came as a result of the inaugural congress of the World Baseball Softball Confederation in March where the WBSC was formed by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the International Softball Federation (ISF) and is the governing body for baseball and softball.<\/p>\n

Sport Canada Hosting Grant \u2013 We are honoured to receive a Sport Canada Hosting Grant.<\/strong> \u201cSupporting the hosting of high-calibre international sport events, like the 2015 WBSC Men\u2019s World Softball Championship, is important to the Government of Canada. In fact, during this Year of Sport in Canada, more than 60 international sport events are taking place from coast to coast to coast, including this one in Saskatoon. We are proud to support this event with $150,000 in funding from Sport Canada\u2019s Hosting Program. I congratulate Softball Canada and all the organizers for their great work, and share our Government\u2019s best wishes for a successful tournament. I encourage everyone to cheer on our Canadian team, as many of its athletes will also be competing at the 2015 Pan Am Games!\u201d \u2014The Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State (Foreign Affairs and Consular)<\/p>\n

Championship Website and other media<\/strong>:
\nWe can be found on the web at http:\/\/www.2015isfmensworldsoftball.ca<\/a>. The website is available in both official languages and has a wide variety of information including: under the events tab you can see the teams and schedule, and you will find event history under the history tab. The website also includes information on the host committee contacts, tickets, volunteers, sponsors and a list of special events to enhance the fan experience. Championship information is also available at https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/2015ISFmensworlds<\/a> or on twitter at @ISFMens2015. Video streaming will be available on fee per use basis at Sportscanada.tv<\/a><\/p>\n

Background Information:<\/strong>
\nMen\u2019s Softball world championships occur every two years, following a rule change at the 2009 ISF Congress.
\n\u2022 16 teams will participate from four regions in the 14th WBSC Men\u2019s Softball World Championship, a reach that spans across Asia, Europe, North- and South America, and Oceania.
\n\u2022 There are no age restrictions for this championship.
\n\u2022 Each team roster is allowed a maximum of 17 players.
\n\u2022 Every player is required to hold a passport for the country they represent.
\n\u2022 This is the final softball world championship using the qualification system. All future softball world championships will be \u2018open\u2019 format.<\/p>\n

The Teams<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first Men\u2019s World Softball Championship took place in Mexico City in 1966. The next 11 championships were dominated by a very group of 3 countries. In 2009 Australia broke in with their first win and in the 2013 championship in Argentina, Venezuela became the first team from South America to win a medal. This year at least half the field will come to the championship with realistic aspirations of winning a medal. Every country will be looking to prove something to the world.<\/p>\n

The mighty Black Sox of New Zealand<\/strong> will be returning as defending champions and are looking to claim their sixth world title. A lot has changed since the last worlds as Head coach Mark Sorenson has named seven world championship rookies in his 17-man squad, including 16 year old short stop Coles Evans, the youngest ever to make the Black Sox at this level.
\nThe Aussies and Adam Folkard won their only title in Saskatoon will be looking to get back there to get another, after finishing 3rd two years ago. The Aussie Steelers boast world class experience with six players returning from Saskatoon. They will provide leadership and experience to a team that boasts speed, power, versatility and plenty of youthful energy with 8 championship rookies.<\/p>\n

Venezuela<\/strong> winner of the Pan American Softball Championships and 5th in 09, they will be looking to prove to the world that their 2013 silver medal was no fluke.<\/p>\n

Argentina<\/strong> coming off a silver medal at the Pan American Softball championship and a 4th place in the 2013 worlds are determined to show local softball fans they are so much better than their 7th place finish the last time they were in Saskatoon.<\/p>\n

The traditional powerhouse, United States<\/strong> are four time gold medallists, but will be looking to get back on the podium for the first times since 2000.<\/p>\n

The Japanese<\/strong> who have won more medals than any country in the Junior Men s World championships will be fighting to stay up with the elite teams as they were not satisfied with their 6th place finish in the last 2 championships.<\/p>\n

The teams from Czech Republic, Denmark. Great Britain and Netherlands<\/strong> will represent Europe and plan to make a mark for European men\u2019s softball on the international scene.<\/p>\n

Mexico<\/strong> who has won 2 world championship medals return along with a pair of Latin American countries. Guatemala will be making their world championship debut, and Dominican Republic hope to take advantage of their strong baseball tradition in order to take a step forward in the softball world.<\/p>\n

Joining Japan from the WBSC\u2019s Asian region are the teams from Indonesia and the Philippines<\/strong> who will be hoping step up into the top half of the teams in the world.<\/p>\n

Canada <\/strong>\u2013 Head Coach John Stuart will announce Canada\u2019s World Championship roster on June 3, at 1:30 in a press conference in the Courtyard Room in the Saskatoon Inn. A men\u2019s softball powerhouse since the first time they entered this event, Canada has won the second most medals at the World Championships, second only to New Zealand. They made their way to the podium the last two times the worlds came to Saskatoon but have never been in the final on home soil. In the last world championship they finished first in their pool but lost two straight to Venezuela and Argentina to finish 5th.<\/p>\n

Click here for the Word version of this press release<\/a><\/p>\n

In French:<\/strong><\/p>\n

2015 Le Championnat mondial de softball masculin
\nLe communiqu\u00e9 de presse
\nLes gars sont de retour. La ville de Saskatoon, avec l\u2019Association de softball amateur de Saskatoon sont fi\u00e8res d\u2019accueillir le Championnat du Monde de softball masculine WBSC 2015, le 25 juin au 5 juillet. \u201cLes gars sont de retour\u201d est le theme, car nous sommes excit\u00e9 de revoir les meilleurs joueurs au monde \u00e0 notre ville. Saskatoon est toujours un centre d\u2019activit\u00e9 pour le softball, et nous serons la seule ville au monde \u00e0 acueillir cet \u00e9v\u00e9nement trois fois, en suivant les tournois r\u00e9ussis en 1988 et en 2009. En 2009 plus que 50,000 fans se sont trouv\u00e9s aux parcs \u2013 Bob Van Impe Stadium et Gordon Howe Field. Ils se sont joint aux 400 b\u00e9n\u00e9voles pour faire du tournoi le championnat le plus r\u00e9ussis de l\u2019histoire. Le succ\u00e8s en 2009 a cr\u00e9\u00e9 un fonds d\u2019h\u00e9ritage qui a finance des projets d\u2019infrastructure pour am\u00e9liorer le jeu de softball et pour fournir des opportunit\u00e9s de croissance parmi les categories de la jeunesse et des adultes pour des ann\u00e9es \u00e0 venir. Il n\u2019y a gu\u00e8re de doute que quand les gars reviennent cette ann\u00e9e, ils vont cr\u00e9er m\u00eame plus d\u2019excitation que jamais.
\nD\u00e9tails de l\u2019\u00e9v\u00e9nement:
\nNouveau nom \u2013 ce n\u2019est plus nomm\u00e9 le championnat du monde de softball FSI. C\u2019est maintenant le Championnat du monde de softball masculine WBSC 2015. Ce changement est d\u00fb au congr\u00e8s inaugural de la WBSC en mars, o\u00f9 la WBSC est form\u00e9 par la F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale de Baseball et la F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale de Softball ; et qui est l\u2019organe directeur au monde pour le baseball et le softball.
\nSubvention d\u2019accueil de Sport Canada. 2015 est officiellement \u201cl\u2019Ann\u00e9e de Sport\u201d au Canada. Ce championnat s\u2019ajoute \u00e0 la liste des \u00e9v\u00e9nements fantastiques accueilli par notre pays incroyable. En cons\u00e9quence, nous sommes tr\u00e8s honor\u00e9s de recevoir une subvention d\u2019accueil de Sport Canada. \u00c7a va aider les organisateurs non seulement pour rendre l’\u00e9v\u00e9nement plus de succ\u00e8s financier, mais pour apporter le softball au public dans nos deux langues officielles, et \u00e7a va favoriser le jeu au monde.
\n\u00ab Pour le gouvernement du Canada, il est important d\u2019appuyer la pr\u00e9sentation au pays de grandes comp\u00e9titions d\u2019envergure internationale, comme le Championnat du monde de softball masculin de la WBSC. En fait, tout au long de l\u2019Ann\u00e9e du sport au Canada, plus de 60 rencontres sportives internationales sont pr\u00e9sent\u00e9es d\u2019un bout \u00e0 l\u2019autre du pays, y compris celle-ci \u00e0 Saskatoon. Nous sommes fiers d\u2019accorder 150 000 dollars \u00e0 ce championnat, par l\u2019entremise du Programme d\u2019accueil de Sport Canada. F\u00e9licitations \u00e0 Softball Canada et \u00e0 tous les organisateurs qui ont travaill\u00e9 de main de ma\u00eetre pour organiser ce tournoi, que je vous souhaite des plus r\u00e9ussis. J\u2019invite la population \u00e0 venir encourager notre \u00e9quipe canadienne, dont bon nombre des membres seront de la comp\u00e9tition aux Jeux panam\u00e9ricains de cet \u00e9t\u00e9! \u00bb
\n\u2014L\u2019honorable Lynne Yelich, ministre d\u2019\u00c9tat (Affaires \u00e9trang\u00e8res et consulaires)<\/p>\n

Le site Web du Championnat et d\u2019autres m\u00e9dias. On peut nous trouver au Web \u00e0 http:\/\/www.2015isfmensworldsoftball.ca. Le site Web est disponible en les deux langues officielles ei il a une grande vari\u00e9t\u00e9 d\u2019informations, y compris: les\u2019\u00e9quipes et l\u2019horaire, et l\u2019histoire de l\u2019\u00e9v\u00e9nement sour l\u2019onglet \u201chistoire\u201d. Le site y compris aussi d\u2019informations du comit\u00e9 d\u2019h\u00f4te, des billets, des b\u00e9n\u00e9voles, des commanditaires et une liste des \u00e9v\u00e9nements sp\u00e9ciales pour am\u00e9liorer l\u2019exp\u00e9rience du fan. Des renseignements du tournoi sont aussi disponible \u00e0 https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/2015ISFmensworlds ou \u00e0 Twitter \u00e0 @ISFMens2015. Le video en streaming sera disponible \u00e0 Sportscanada.tv en payant par usage.
\nInformations de base :
\nLe championnat du monde de softball masculin se passe tous le deux ann\u00e9es, d\u00e9s une changement des r\u00e8gles au congr\u00e8s de la FSI en 2009.
\n \u202216 \u00e9quipes vont participer de quatre r\u00e9gions au 14i\u00e8me championnat qui englobe l\u2019Asie, Les Am\u00e9riques du Nord et du Sud, l\u2019Europe, et l\u2019Oc\u00e9anie
\n \u2022Il n\u2019y aura pas de restrictions d\u2019\u00e2ge
\n \u2022Chaque \u00e9quipe aura un maximum de 17 joueurs sur la liste
\n \u2022Chaque joueur devra avoir un passeport pour le pays qu\u2019il repr\u00e9sente.
\n \u2022Ce sera le dernier championat du format de \u00ab qualification \u00bb. \u00e0 l\u2019avenir, les championnats seront \u00ab ouverts \u00bb
\nLes \u00c9quipes
\nLe premier championnat du monde de softball masculine \u00e9tait \u00e0 Mexique en 1966. Les 11 prochains tournois \u00e9taient domin\u00e9s par 3 pays. En 2009 l\u2019Australie s\u2019est \u00e9tabliavec leur premi\u00e8re victoire, et en 2013 en Argentine, le Venezuela est devenu le premier pays de l\u2019Am\u00e9rique du Sud \u00e0 gagner une m\u00e9daille. Cette ann\u00e9e au moins la moiti\u00e9 des \u00e9quipes vont arriver avec des espoirs r\u00e9alistes de gagner une m\u00e9daille.
\nChaque pays veut se prouver au monde.
\nLes Black Sox puissant du la Nouvelle Zelande reviennent comme les champions, et ils veulent leur sixi\u00e8me titre. Il y a beaucoup de changements depuis le dernier championnat, puisque l’entra\u00eeneur-chef Mark Sorenson a nomm\u00e9 sept recrues \u00e0 son \u00e9quipe ; y compris son arr\u00eat-court Coles Evans. Il a juste 16 ans, il est le plus jeune \u00e0 jouer pour les back Sox \u00e0 ce niveau.
\nL\u2019Australie et Adam Folkard ont gagn\u00e9 leur seul titre \u00e0 Saskatoon, et ils chercheront un autre apr\u00e8s avoir fini avec la m\u00e9daille de bronze il y a deux ann\u00e9es. Les Steelers ont beaucoup d\u2019exp\u00e9rience avec six joueurs qui reviennent \u00e0 Saskatoon de l\u2019\u00e9quipe de 2009. Ils donnent la direction, et l\u2019exp\u00e9rience \u00e0 une \u00e9quipe avec la vitesse, la puissance, la versatilit\u00e9 et beaucoup de l\u2019\u00e9nergie de jeunesse avec 8 recrues au championnat.
\nLe Venezuela a gagn\u00e9 le championnat de softball aux jeux panam\u00e9ricains, et a fini en 5i\u00e8me place en 2009 ; ils veulent prouver que leurs m\u00e9dailles d\u2019argent en 2013 n\u2019\u00e9taient pas d\u00fb \u00e0 la chance.
\nL\u2019Argentine, qui vient avec les m\u00e9dailles d\u2019argent du championnat de softball aux jeux panam\u00e9ricains, et qui a fini en 4i\u00e8me rang en 2013, est pr\u00eat \u00e0 d\u00e9montrer aux fans de Saskatoon qu\u2019ils sont meilleurs que leur 7i\u00e8me place de 2009.
\nLa force traditionnelle, les \u00c9tats-Unis ont gagn\u00e9 l\u2019or quatre fois, mais ils cherchent leurs premi\u00e8res m\u00e9dailles depuis 2000.
\nLe Japon, qui ont plus de m\u00e9dailles que tous les autres pays aux championnats junior, veulent rester avec les \u00e9quipes de l\u2019\u00e9lite, en ameliorant leur 6i\u00e8me place aux deux derniers tournois.
\nLes \u00e9quipes de la R\u00e9publique tch\u00e8que, le Danemark, la Grande-Bretagne et les Pays-Bas vont representer l\u2019Europe, et veulent les \u00e9tablir sur la sc\u00e8ne de softball international.
\nLe Mexique, qui a gagn\u00e9 deux championnats, revient avec deux pays d’Am\u00e9rique latine. Le Guatemala fait son d\u00e9but au championnat du monde, et la R\u00e9publique Dominicain veut poursuivre leur succ\u00e8s au baseball au terrain de softball.
\nAvec le Japon de l\u2019Asie, on va voir les \u00e9quipes de l\u2019Indon\u00e9sie et des Philippines qui veulent se placer au premier moiti\u00e9 des \u00e9quipes au monde.
\nLe Canada – l’entra\u00eeneur-chef John Stuart va annoncer la liste des joueurs pour le Canada le 3 juin \u00e0 13h30 lors d’une conf\u00e9rence de presse dans la Salle Courtyard au Saskatoon Inn. Une \u00e9quipe de puissance depuis leur premier tournoi, le Canada a gagn\u00e9 le secondes plus de m\u00e9dailles aux championnats du monde; seconde juste au Nouveau Z\u00e9lande. Ils ont r\u00e9\u00e7u des m\u00e9dailles les deux fois \u00e0 Saskatoon, mais ils n\u2019ont jamais jou\u00e9 aux finales chez eux. Au championnat le plus r\u00e9cent, ils ont gagn\u00e9 leur division, mais puis ils ont perdu deux matchs de suite au Venezuela et \u00e0 l\u2019Argentine aux \u00e9liminatoires pour finir en 5i\u00e8me rang.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Boys are Back in Town The City of Saskatoon in conjunction with the Saskatoon Amateur Softball Association is pleased to announce, we will be hosting the 2015 WBSC Men\u2019s World Softball Championship, June 25- July 5. A predominant theme that we will be using for this event is \u201cthe boys are back in town\u201d, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,28,12,23,82],"tags":[49,72,73,118],"class_list":{"0":"post-25986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"category-featured","9":"category-isf","10":"category-tournaments","11":"category-wbsc","12":"tag-isf2015","13":"tag-saskatoon","14":"tag-wbsc","15":"tag-wbscmen2015","16":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25986"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25990,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25986\/revisions\/25990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}