{"id":2405,"date":"2008-03-25T08:23:19","date_gmt":"2008-03-25T16:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=2405"},"modified":"2008-03-26T13:56:15","modified_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:56:15","slug":"isf-jr-mens-world-championships-june-20-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=2405","title":{"rendered":"ISF Jr. Men’s World Championships – June 20-29"},"content":{"rendered":"

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12 TEAMS START VYING FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP JUNE 20<\/strong><\/p>\n

PLANT CITY, FLORIDA — The ten-day schedule of 70 games at the International Softball Federation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s VIII Jr. Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s World Championship was made public today by the sport\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world governing body. Taking place in Whitehorse, Yukon (Canada), the fast pitch event will be played from June 20-29. The 19-and-under national team from 12 countries will participate.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There is a lot of softball scheduled to be played at this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world championship,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ISF President Don Porter said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The spectators attending and the media covering the tournament will have a lot to see, with some of the entries on the schedule showing as many as nine games in one day. The unique location of this event will provide a great setting for these world-class athletes to compete for the chance to be called \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcworld champion.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

In the northwest corner of the country, the Pepsi Softball Centre is in an area that daily gets over 20 hours of daylight, meaning that the teams will play against nature\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s backdrop with no artificial (stadium) lights.<\/p>\n

Australia is the three-time defending ISF Jr. Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s World Champion, with this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s host country the last to win the title before the Aussies started their run in 1997. Joining those two at the event in June will be: Argentina, Botswana, Czech Republic, Denmark, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, USA, and Venezuela.<\/p>\n

The championship opens with Australia facing Botswana in the first of four games scheduled before all 12 teams participate in Opening Ceremonies, which will be followed by games between Canada and the Czech Republic and the U.S. versus Japan.<\/p>\n

The official event website is www.worldsoftball2008.com<\/strong><\/a> and the full game schedule is available here.<\/p>\n

Where is Whitehorse you say? See map below. Plug in your home address to see how far it is from you. Me? I’m a paltry 3,005 miles away<\/a>.<\/p>\n