Prince George, B.C. – Work is proceeding full steam ahead for the Baseball Canada Senior Championship at Citizen Field and Rotary Field in Prince George this August.

One of the organizers, Jim Swanson, says the tournament is the same one held in 2002 at Monty Gabriel Ball Park at Highway 16 and Ferry Avenue, adding Prince George is the only city to have the tournament back for a second time in that time frame. Swanson says it was that tournament, and meetings afterward,  that actually led to the creation of Citizen Field, which has hosted several big tournaments including the World Baseball Challenge, round three coming in 2013. Swanson says “most people outside of here think there are going to be dog sled races and igloos for 9 months of the year, but we are becoming Canada’s hotbed for amateur senior baseball. It’s sad to see the league (PG Senior Men’s Baseball) is taking some steps backward with fewer teams, but certainly in terms of the major events the community has stepped up to the plate and made this a destination for major baseball tournaments. We don’t have any trouble getting the teams to come to Prince George based on our reputation.”

The Senior Championship runs August 23^rd to 26^th with the provincial champions representing their sports organizations. So far the line-up includes teams from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, Alberta, the Victoria Mavericks representing B.C., and the host club.

Swanson says there are close ties with the business community which really gets behind these tournaments and feels it gets a strong return on their investment. He says volunteers in all areas are needed, as are services of various types, sponsorships and partnerships, and of course the involvement of people in the community to come out and watch a game or two.   He says the ticket package for the tournament will be out the first week of March, as will volunteer information.