WBSC Junior Men’s Softball World Championship ready to go, excitement growing in Prince Albert

The XII WBSC Junior Men’s Softball World Championship will open tomorrow (Saturday, 7 July) in Prince Albert, Canada.

“We have been dreaming about tomorrow for the last four years,” said Kalen Kovitch, the Media Director of the Local Organizing Committee, during a press conference.

Prince Albert as a community is anticipating the event. Large crowds are expected to attend the games.

“This is not giving us any pressure,” said Canada’s manager Jeff Ellsworth. “We are trying to keep everything the same and have the kids enjoy the experience.”

Japan, as the defending world champions, may be considered the team to beat: “We don’t feel any pressure,” commented manager Yukihiro Tanaka “We are aware we have a good team and we will simply try to do our best.”

Every team is looking forward to the tournament. Thomas Makea manages New Zealand and says his players are “just ready to go.”

Tyron Mc Kinney says that USA “accepts the challenge.”

Argentina’s manager Andres Gamarci explains his team has gone through two years of preparation “but playing against other National Teams is something different from playing club competition.”

Robert Harrow confirms that also Australia can’t wait to get started.

Denmark is a European powerhouse, but manager Gilles Fournier is “aware of the fact that softball in our country is not as big as in some of the nations we will face. We have four 15 year olds on our roster and we are trying to build. Now we want to play and see what happens.”

Mexico’s manager Oscar Cordova believes that “to improve, you have to face the best. We are excited to see what happens now.”

The press expressed a lot of curiosity for the way Guatemala and India got ready for the event.

“We are well prepared,” said Guatemala’s manager Julio Albizures. “I hope the kids had enough rest. We had a very long journey.”

India formed the team through a long selection process. Manager Lekh Maurya explained that the last choices were made on a group of 100 players.

Mexico and Denmark will open the tournament at 10 am local time (12 US East, 6 pm CEST). The Opening Ceremony is scheduled for 6 pm local time. The highlight of the day will be the matchup between the hosts Canada and USA at 7.30 pm local time.

Every game of the Men’s Softball Junior World Championship will be broadcasted through the WBSC YouTube Channel. Results, stats, pictures and play by play of the games will be available on the WBSC website.