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BY CHRISTINE RIVET, RECORD STAFF

KITCHENER — This city should get back in the world softball game.

That sentiment comes from Dave Bailey, a player and coach with the two-time International Softball Congress’s world champion Kitchener Rivershark Twins.

Bailey’s team just returned from the ISC world tournament in Midland, Mich. where the R-Twins earned the silver medal.

“This tournament belongs in Ontario,” said Bailey who also runs his own senior men’s fastpitch tourney in his hometown, Tavistock.

“I had a lot of questions (about the new format), too,” he said. “But everything I saw said Midland was a great success.”

Back in March, a group of Kitchener-based organizers abruptly pulled out of hosting the 2011 worlds because the American-based ISC had changed the event’s format.

“We wouldn’t make the money that the groups expected to make,” Duncan Matheson, slated to be the 2011 tournament’s chair, told The Record in March.

“And I’m not about to lead a group of volunteers down a rocky road.”

The local organizing committee, comprised of ball associations and service clubs who would have split the proceeds, voted unanimously to walk away after the ISC combined the elite men’s bracket with the its second-tier tourney, thereby diluting the product, the Kitchener group said.

The Kitchener committee’s decision led to an acrimonious divorce with the ISC, leaving some to wonder if the sport’s governing body would ever return to Kitchener.

This city previously hosted some of the ISC’s most successful world tournaments, in 2002, 2006 and 2007.

Kitchener’s organizers estimated they raised close to $100,000 and drew about 50,000 fans for each of those events.

Local organizers also said the 2006 and 2007 events pumped about $7-million into the region’s economy through spinoff spending.

The Midland tournament’s co-chair David Lach said his committee’s objectives were more modest because it didn’t have the army of volunteers available in Kitchener.

“We were able to break even and meet our budget goals. All along our intent was not to make money on the event.

“The entire host committee was made up of members who were passionate about fastpitch softball and who wanted to leave a lasting memory. . .”

Bailey said differences between the Kitchener group and the ISC should be patched up for the good of the game.

He pointed out that 19 teams from Ontario competed in Midland, earning a clean sweep of all four division titles.

Bailey also said Kitchener’s Peter Hallman Ball Yard is a perfect venue for the ISC tourney’s new format.

“I’d love to see Kitchener get back in the game,” said Bailey whose R-Twins won world titles in 2008 and 2009.

The ISC’s 2011 world tournament has since been awarded to the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois.

The R-Twins are in Charlottetown starting this weekend to defend their Canadian senior men’s fastpitch title.

crivet (at) therecord.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 8:26 pm and is filed under Canada, ISC, Tournaments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.