Edmonton Awarded 2012
Canadian Little League Championships
Teams from Across Canada Compete to Attend
the Little League World Series
Little League Alberta District 2 / Edmonton are pleased to announce that
it will be hosting the 2012 Canadian Little League Championships.
The Championship Tournament was awarded to the successful Edmonton bid
committee at a meeting on April 12th of all nine District Administrators
that make up the Little League Prairie Region. Initially, there were to
be bids presented from Medicine Hat and Calgary, as well as the bid from
Edmonton. The Medicine Hat application was withdrawn, which left the
remaining bids from Edmonton and Calgary to be evaluated. In the end,
the Edmonton contingent, with the expertise and assistance of Edmonton
Tourism, put in the stronger proposal, and was declared the recipient of
the 2012 Canadian Championships.
The Championship Tournament will begin on Saturday August 4th and will
conclude with the Championship Final on Saturday August 11th. The
tournament will consist of six (6) teams from the five Little League
regions in Canada plus a host team. The five regions are from British
Columbia, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic Region. Players
from the five Little League regions will arrive in Edmonton on Thursday
August 2nd, and in keeping with Little League tradition, will be
billeted with families throughout the four leagues (Community Park,
Confederation Park, East Park and Mill Woods) that currently make up the
Edmonton District. Edmonton last hosted its only other Canadian
Championship Tournament successfully in 1989.
The bid proposal has identified the host venue of the Canadian Little
League Championships to be Tiger Goldstick Park. Current estimates by
the bid committee are approximating attendance figures for the
Championship Final to be between 3,000 to 5,000 people. There are
typically three (3) games per day as part of the round robin schedule,
with one day being held open in case of games that may have to be
re-scheduled due to inclement weather. Preparations are already underway
to secure the venue, volunteers to assist in putting on the tournament,
and the job of funding the event through initiatives that will include
approaching the business community in Edmonton as well as other partners
interested in being a part of this memorable experience.
In conjunction with the Canadian Little League Championships, Edmonton
District 2 will also be holding a game for its Challenger Division,
which is designed for special needs youth to be able to play and enjoy
the game of baseball. By having the game on the same stage as the
national tournament, it is hoped that more special needs player will be
exposed to the game, and to give these athletes an opportunity to enjoy
the excitement of participating in an event at the Canadian
Championships.
This year will be the 55th year of Little League Baseball in Edmonton.
Little League provides baseball programs for players from the age of 5
to 18 years, with current enrolment in the District at approximately
1,100 players. With exposure to these Canadian Little League
Championships, Edmonton District 2 hopes that more young athletes will
consider playing a game with deep roots in the community and lasting
memories of fun on the diamond playing the game of baseball.
This is an excellent opportunity for the public to watch the highest
calibre of baseball at this level played by excellent young athletes.
Millions have played Little League worldwide for over 50 years, and many
of today's major leaguers began their careers in Little League. Please
take this opportunity to lend your support for the teams that will go on
to represent Canada at the Little League World Series in Williamsport,
PA in 2012.
To obtain further information, please contact the following, who were
also members of the successful bid committee:
Kevin Barkwell – Tournament
Chairman and Co-Director: 439-1194 (H)
Wayne Sperling – Edmonton
District Administrator & Tournament Co-Director: 478-5675 (H)
