KITCHENER (Jun 13, 2007)
In case you haven't already heard, Waterloo Region is the centre of the fastball universe.
This, from promoter Duncan Matheson who -- along with his volunteer army of fastball foot soldiers -- will bring the men's world club team championships to Kitchener for the second straight year.
"You got so many people around here that are fastball nuts. They put so much into the game because they love the game," Matheson said at yesterday's news conference which kicked off a season that will conclude with the International Softball Congress world tournament in Kitchener from Aug. 10-18.
For Halifax native Mark Smith, the head coach of the Canadian senior men's fastball team, this area's fastball talent, proximity to Toronto's airport, world-class facilities and hospitality are hard to beat.
"All fastball roads lead you here," said Smith, in town with the national team this week for a test series against the three-time defending world champs from New Zealand.
The Kiwis warmed up for that series last night in Tavistock, handing the Kitchener Hallman Twins a 13-3 defeat in the opening game of a doubleheader.
This summer, the ISC worlds, the granddaddy of senior men's club team tournaments, will be held at Kitchener's Peter Hallman Ball Yard for the third time in six years.
The ISCs also include an intermediate men's competition (the Tournament of Champions) to be played in Kitchener and Cambridge, a youth tournament and a skills clinic.
Waterloo Region and area boasts a season piled high with premier fastball events, organizers said, including the recently-completed Legends of Fastball Classic in Woodstock.
New Zealand national team infielder Jarrad Martin knows first-hand how much this sport matters to local fans.
While wearing the uniform of the two-time ISC champion County Materials of Marathon, Wis., last summer, he felt the wrath of local spectators at the Hallman Ball Yards.
"Last year, we (County) weren't on the best side of the fans at a lot of times. We had to deal with the adversity and the hostile crowds. But the sport has a great following here," said Martin, 34, an electrician from New Plymouth, New Zealand
Named the 2006 ISCs most valuable player, Martin will make a return trip to Kitchener in August, for the 2007 ISC worlds, as a member of the Broken Bow Gremlins of Albany, N.Y.
Smith, who has repeatedly brought Team Canada to Kitchener for training camps, will also guide Nova Scotia's under-19 girls squad to Kitchener-Waterloo next month to train.
ISC world tourney organizers said that more than 50,000 fans are expected to watch the nine-day tournaments in Kitchener and Cambridge. About $7 million will be injected into the local economy, they said.
Some 600 volunteers will devote 14,000 hours to hosting the ISC worlds and Tournament of Champions.
"It's fastball fever. People are going crazy about the game," said Matheson, the 2007 ISC tourney's chair.
At last year's ISC worlds, 47,000 fans attended. The tourney netted a profit of $82,000, shared with seven local non-profit groups.
FASTBALL FRENZY
Area fastball events scheduled this season include:
June 14-16 -- Test series, New Zealand vs. Canada; Orillia's Tudhope Park (Thursday), Sebringville's Community Park (Friday) and Kitchener's Peter Hallman Ball Yard (Saturday, 6 and 8 p.m.).
June 28 to July 1 -- World Fastball Invitational, Monkton, Ont., featuring the world's seven top-ranked club teams.
Aug. 10-18 -- ISC world tournament, Kitchener's Peter Hallman Ball Yard.
