The bleachers were packed for the Men's final on Sunday between Newfoundland's Galway Hitmen and B.C.'s Sooke Loggers (Photo: Shaun Penner)

By Shaun Penner

Fast Pitch Championships

Attendance totals exceed expectations for Canadian Fast Pitch Championships

Sep 6, 2019 | 7:16 AM

The attendance numbers are in, and the organizing committee for the 2019 Men’s and Master Men’s Canadian Fast Pitch Championships says they have exceeded expectations.

A tally shows that over 6,000 people went through the gates to catch some or all of the national championship event, which was the first of its kind to be held in Grande Prairie.

“We’re absolutely thrilled at those numbers,” said Chair of the tournament Paul Therrien. “It was a busy place for our community all weekend.”

Championship Sunday alone saw over 2,000 people come down to South Bear Creek Park and catch the Galway Hitmen (Men’s) and the Saskatoon 222’s (Master Men’s) defend their national titles.

Since this was the first time Grande Prairie has hosted a ball tournament of this level, Therrien says the organizing committee wasn’t total certain what to expect when it came to attendance.

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“You never know what the attraction is going to be for our community and whether or not people will come out like they did,” said Therrien. “To get 6,000 people on Labour Day long weekend, to come to the park and to watch these games is pretty incredible.”

Those high attendance numbers come despite the two host teams, the Men’s PVI Pirates and Master Men’s CJC Pirates falling short of the finals, which goes to show not only the draw the tournament had from local event goers, but also the amount of people that travelled in to catch the event.

Feedback from those that came to Grande Prairie from across Canada, the teams and Softball Canada was mostly positive, both in regards to the tournament itself and the city, says Therrien. With that positive feedback, the possibility of hosting another event like this one is certainly on the minds of organizers.

“We’ve definitely set the table to host other events like this one in our community,” said Therrien. “When we’re ready to host something else, we’ll have the support of teams as well as Softball Canada.”

The tournament played host to teams from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.