They'll be playing ball in Weyburn after all.
Lengthy discussions with both the city and Baseball Canada ended this week with the announcement that Saskatchewan's Opportunity City will indeed be the site of the 1998 Canadian Sr. Men's National Championship. The six-team round-robin tournament will take place August 20-23 on the diamond at Tom Laing Park - home of the Weyburn Sr. Beavers, who won the national crown themselves in 1996.
Don Kraft, chairperson of the city's '98 Nationals Committee, said Weyburn's bid to host the event was confirmed after it was agreed that a six-team tournament could be successfully run using a single park. As a result, the host park will receive a lasting legacy in the form of some permanent and upgraded facilities (instead of the temporary upgrades to a second field which had been previously proposed) as well as a considerable economic boost to the local hospitality and retail industries.
"One of the big problems we've had with Tom Laing Park is that we didn't have completed facilities," Kraft said, noting that trailer-type washrooms and expanded, permanent bleachers will be among the improvements to the field that should benefit everyone in the years to come. "That's what we wanted to accomplish."
Baseball Canada will be looking after such details as the scheduling of umpires while the responsibilities of the local committee - comprised of Marvin Gisi, Bob Cameron, Mark Belanger, Cindy Herberholz, Lois Benneweis, John Murray, Shawn Fraser, Glen Letnes, Glen Tollefson and Laurie Day - will include transportation and accommodation.
An organizational meeting has been tentatively scheduled for the week of March 9; additional volunteers interested in assisting the committee are welcome to contact either Don Kraft or Cindy Herberholz for information.
Teams representing Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, as well as a host team, will be participating in the tournament.
Box 400, 904 East Avenue
Weyburn, SK
S4H 2K4
Phone: (306) 842-7487
Fax: (306) 842-0282
E-mail: production@weyburnreview.com
This web page and its contents are copyright of the Weyburn
Review (1987) Ltd.