{"id":4601,"date":"2010-08-25T20:26:42","date_gmt":"2010-08-26T03:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=4601"},"modified":"2010-08-25T20:28:30","modified_gmt":"2010-08-26T03:28:30","slug":"get-back-in-the-game-softball-playercoach-tells-kitchener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=4601","title":{"rendered":"Get back in the game, softball player\/coach tells Kitchener"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\n(click for original news story)<\/em><\/p>\n

BY CHRISTINE RIVET, RECORD STAFF<\/em><\/p>\n

KITCHENER \u00e2\u20ac\u201d This city should get back in the world softball game.<\/p>\n

That sentiment comes from Dave Bailey, a player and coach with the two-time International Softball Congress\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world champion Kitchener Rivershark Twins.<\/p>\n

Bailey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s team just returned from the ISC world tournament in Midland, Mich. where the R-Twins earned the silver medal.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This tournament belongs in Ontario,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Bailey who also runs his own senior men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fastpitch tourney in his hometown, Tavistock.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I had a lot of questions (about the new format), too,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But everything I saw said Midland was a great success.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s format.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make the money that the groups expected to make,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Duncan Matheson, slated to be the 2011 tournament\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chair, told The Record in March.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not about to lead a group of volunteers down a rocky road.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bracket with the its second-tier tourney, thereby diluting the product, the Kitchener group said.<\/p>\n

The Kitchener committee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision led to an acrimonious divorce with the ISC, leaving some to wonder if the sport\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s governing body would ever return to Kitchener.<\/p>\n

This city previously hosted some of the ISC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most successful world tournaments, in 2002, 2006 and 2007.<\/p>\n

Kitchener\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s organizers estimated they raised close to $100,000 and drew about 50,000 fans for each of those events.<\/p>\n

Local organizers also said the 2006 and 2007 events pumped about $7-million into the region\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economy through spinoff spending.<\/p>\n

The Midland tournament\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s co-chair David Lach said his committee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s objectives were more modest because it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the army of volunteers available in Kitchener.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We were able to break even and meet our budget goals. All along our intent was not to make money on the event.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The entire host committee was made up of members who were passionate about fastpitch softball and who wanted to leave a lasting memory. . .\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Bailey said differences between the Kitchener group and the ISC should be patched up for the good of the game.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that 19 teams from Ontario competed in Midland, earning a clean sweep of all four division titles.<\/p>\n

Bailey also said Kitchener\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Peter Hallman Ball Yard is a perfect venue for the ISC tourney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new format.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d love to see Kitchener get back in the game,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Bailey whose R-Twins won world titles in 2008 and 2009.<\/p>\n

The ISC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 2011 world tournament has since been awarded to the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois.<\/p>\n

The R-Twins are in Charlottetown starting this weekend to defend their Canadian senior men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fastpitch title.<\/p>\n

crivet (at) therecord.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(click for original news story) BY CHRISTINE RIVET, RECORD STAFF KITCHENER \u00e2\u20ac\u201d 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world champion Kitchener Rivershark Twins. Bailey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s team just returned from the ISC world tournament in Midland, Mich. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,3,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4601"}],"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=4601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}