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ORIGINAL STORY by Peter J. Wallner
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The 2017 ISC Men's Fastball World Tournament will be held at the Art Van Sports Complex in Plainfield Township.
The tournament, through the International Softball Congress, will be held Aug. 11-20, 2017.
"We are very excited about bringing the ISC World Tournament to a new site and to a purpose-built softball complex," said ISC Executive Director Larry Fisher, "we are very confident that the fans and the teams will agree that the Art Van Sports Complex is a world-class facility."
Grand Rapids will be the third city in Michigan to host the ISC World Tournament, following Saginaw in 1981 and Midland in 2010 and 2012.
This event, taking place over a week and a half, is expected to have estimated economic impact of $1.7 million.
Mike Guswiler, president of the West Michigan Sports Commission, said his group is "looking forward to the event and plan to prepare a special and memorable tournament for the participants," adding that "hosting the International Softball Congress World Tournament in 2017 is an honor given the history of this tournament and exceeds all our expectations of the level and quality of softball we had hoped to attract."
"We're excited about partnering with the ISC and running a great event," enthused Bryan Baar, Art Van Sports Complex manager. "This high quality event will bring over 60 teams to the Grand Rapids area, allowing us to show off West Michigan to teams from all over the United States and Canada."
