The City of Surrey will play host to the softball Olympic qualifier tournament this year.
Last August, Surrey was chosen by Softball Canada as the country鈥檚 bid city for the 2019 Americans qualifier 鈥� which will determine two of six berths for the women鈥檚 softball tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) announced on Twitter Sunday that the 2019 Americas qualifier tournament is to be held Aug. 25 to Sept. 1 in the city.
chairman Greg Timm told Peace Arch News Sunday that Canada was up against Mexico and Colombia to host the tournament, but Canada was selected despite the fact that two of the competing countries had more money on the table.
鈥淭hey had lots of money, far more than we have,鈥� Timm said. 鈥淚 think this is an acknowledgement to the fact that in this town, our volunteers are good organizers. The world association has a lot of trust that we will do what we say and we will comply with everything we bid on.鈥�
Timm said that trust played a major role in the decision.
鈥淲e鈥檝e become internationally known to be a great host. Sometimes those are the stories that aren鈥檛 told about Surrey, quite honestly. We have a great reputation for hosting teams fairly. We don鈥檛 cook the books here, we don鈥檛 cheat, we don鈥檛 manipulate results, umpires are fair, and the truth happens in our tournament.
鈥淭he best team wins, and that鈥檚 what sport is about.鈥�
Softball is returning to the Olympics after being discontinued as a medal sport since 2008.
The return of softball to the Olympics, Timm said, is huge.
鈥淚t is an amateur sport, so money matters,鈥� Timm said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e an Olympic sport, you get government funding, sponsorship funding. When you鈥檙e a non-Olympic sport, you鈥檙e not recognized, really, at the national level,鈥� he said.
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The Europe-Africa qualifier tournament is to be held in the Netherlands July 23-28 and the Asia-Oceania qualifier tournament is to be held in China Sept. 24-29.
As the host country, Japan is guaranteed a spot in the 2020 games, and the United States has secured a spot after winning the world championships.
Currently, Canada is ranked third in the world for women鈥檚 softball, and the first- and second-place finishers of the 2019 Americans qualifier tournament will play in the 2020 Tokyo games.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big deal for our sport. I don鈥檛 know, can you name another summer Olympic sport where Canada is ranked that high?鈥� Timm said.
鈥淲e think it鈥檚 the only Olympic qualifier, of any sport, on Canadian soil this year.鈥�
The WBSC鈥檚 bid-city announcement had been twice-delayed since Surrey was chosen as Canada鈥檚 entry late last summer. Originally, Timm told PAN that they expected to hear from the WBSC no later than mid-September. Due to delays within the WBSC, that deadline was then pushed until late November, and until Sunday, one day after the sports organization wrapped up meetings in Rome.
Timm agreed that the qualifier tournament is to be the most significant softball tournament in Surrey鈥檚 history.
鈥淲e held the world championships in 2016 and we shaped that to be all inclusive. We had countries that we knew weren鈥檛 going to win, but could participate. This has a lot more significance for Canada. This is a really important event,鈥� he said.
Timm said 16 countries from the Caribbean region, South America, North America and Central America will be invited.
鈥淲e are really excited about the chance to host this Olympic Qualifier, we thank the WBSC for the opportunity鈥� said Softball Canada President Kevin Quinn in a news release.
National team members, too, were excited with the weekend announcement.
Canadian pitcher Danielle Lawrie-Locke 鈥� a former White Rock Renegades star 鈥� tweeted Sunday that she was 鈥渟o excited to play in front of our HOME crowd! Especially my two little girls.鈥�
Surrey鈥檚 Holly Speers 鈥� another national team member 鈥� was also excited.
鈥淧laying on home soil for the Olympic qualifier鈥� it doesn鈥檛 get much better than that,鈥� she tweeted.
Playing on home soil for the Olympic qualifier... it doesn鈥檛 get much better than that 鉂わ笍馃嚚馃嚘
鈥� Holly Speers (@HollySpeers)
Softball Canada announced Surrey as its city-of-choice for its bid in August, highlighting the experience that the organizing committee 鈥� headed up by Timm 鈥� has in hosting previous international tournaments.
鈥淚 can tell you today that the guys in Ottawa are popping champagne corks,鈥� Timm said.
WBSC decision on dates and locations of Softball 馃 Qualifiers:
鈥� WBSC 鈿攫煡� (@WBSC)
馃實 Europe-Africa: Utrecht, Netherlands 馃嚦馃嚤23-28 July
馃寧 Americas: Surrey, Canada 馃嚚馃嚘 25 August - 1 September
馃審 Asia/Oceania: Shanghai, China 馃嚚馃嚦 24-29 September
