OTTAWA – Baseball Canada announced today that the city of Vaughan, Ontario was awarded the Bantam Boys Championship for 2009, 2010 and 2011.
This is a first for Baseball Canada, who has been in discussions with the board of directors to attempt such a venture to help promote the championships with sponsorship partners.
“Vaughan’s application was perfect timing to test this measure as they felt it necessary to have the Bantam Nationals for three years for just that reason,” says Baseball Canada Director General Jim Baba.
Vaughan hosted a successful Peewee Championship in 2008, and Baseball Canada felt it was a great area to test the new endeavour.
“After the success of 2008 with the Pee Wee nationals,” adds Baba, “we feel that Vaughan will showcase to the rest of Canada that this is the way of the future for many other age divisions as well.”
“After hosting the 2008 National Pee Wee championships, we were pleased when the city of Vaughan presented a bid for the Bantam Nationals in 2009 and beyond on such short notice,” added Baseball Canada President Ray Carter. “We know they will do a terrific job hosting the event and we look forward to working with the hosting group for the next three years.”
For the 2009 championship, Baseball Canada will use the current 54’/80’ dimensions for the diamond, but will seriously consider implementing the 60’6”/90’ dimensions for the 2010 and 2011 Championships.
The 2009 Bantam Boys Championship will take place from August 20-23.
