{"id":2991,"date":"2008-12-15T09:54:07","date_gmt":"2008-12-15T16:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=2991"},"modified":"2008-12-15T10:00:31","modified_gmt":"2008-12-15T17:00:31","slug":"midland-bidding-to-host-2010-isc-world-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=2991","title":{"rendered":"Midland Bidding to Host 2010 ISC World Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

Midland Daily News<\/strong>
\nDecember 9th, 2008
\nBy Dan Chalk
\n(reprinted with permission)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n[Midland, MI<\/a>] – With all of its fastpitch softball history, one fastpitch event that Midland has never hosted is the International Softball Congress World Tournament. But now, the Midland Explorers Booster Club hopes to bring the ISC Tournament to Currie Stadium in the second and third weeks of August 2010.<\/p>\n

After a presentation by the Explorers Booster Club last Tuesday, the City of Midland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Parks and Recreation Commission voted unanimously to recommend that city staff work with the booster club in support of a bid for the tournament. If the bid is accepted by the ISC, the 32-team ISC World Tournament would be held at Currie Stadium, and the concurrent 40-team ISC Tournament of Champions would take place at Redcoats Complex. <\/p>\n

Kyle Beane of the Explorers Booster Club said the club for a few years has tossed around the idea of hosting the tournament. He said its economic impact would be between $2 million and $5 million. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve looked at it for the past few years but never put the time and the organization into it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Beane, who also plays for the Midland Explorers fastpitch team. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve still got a lot of steps to go, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re very hopeful.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Beane said the booster club plans to submit a bid to ISC Executive Director Ken Hackmeister next month, and he expects to get an OK from Hackmeister by March 2009.<\/p>\n

Beane said no other city has expressed an interest in hosting the 2010 tournament, and he said that Hackmeister has told him the ISC would be supportive of a bid from Midland.\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In the past, two to four teams have bid for it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It just so happens that for 2010, no one else is bidding for it. Ken and I have talked different times over the years. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s supportive of us (in our plan to make a bid).\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n

In the meantime, the Explorers Booster Club is working on the details of preparing for the tournament: lining up volunteers, vendors and accommodations, among other things. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It definitely is a year-and-a-half process to get it ready,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Beane said. The ISC has been hosted recently by Kimberly, Wis.; Eau Claire, Wis.; Sioux City, Iowa; Fargo, N.D.; St. Joseph, Mo.; Kitchener, Ont; and Victoria, B.C. Most teams that compete in the ISC are from the United States and Canada. Australia, Denmark, Bahamas, Czech Republic and Mexico also have sent teams to the tournament. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The top players in the world are going to play in this tournament,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Beane said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best tournament the sport has to offer. … The crowds travel well. People all over the country come to the ISC every year, regardless of where it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s at.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n

In the past, Currie Stadium has hosted numerous major softball events, including the ASA Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Major Nationals, ISF World Championships, USA Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s National Team and Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s National Team tryouts, and Olympic Softball team exhibition games. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a leg up, because the (Currie Stadium) facility and the community are used to this type of event,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Beane said. City of Midland Recreation Manager Marcie Post said she feels the Explorers Booster Club is well organized in its plan to bid for the tournament. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It sounds like they really have their ducks in a row,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If we get everything set and ready to go, it would be a really great thing for Midland.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n

Post added that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important for the city to recoup the cost of the labor that will be required to staff the tournament.\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want to break even on everything that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing here,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In the crisis we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going through with the city budget, I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re breaking even, that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re recouping our costs.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Beane said it was crucial to get the vote of approval from the Parks and Recreation Commission.\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We were looking for their blessing. We knew if we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have fields to play on, it would be a moot point,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Midland Daily News December 9th, 2008 By Dan Chalk (reprinted with permission) [Midland, MI] – With all of its fastpitch softball history, one fastpitch event that Midland has never hosted is the International Softball Congress World Tournament. But now, the Midland Explorers Booster Club hopes to bring the ISC Tournament to Currie Stadium in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2991"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}