A packed Rotary Field watches Canada take on Venezuela during pool play at the 18th WBSC Men's Softball World Cup in Prince Albert on July 9, 2025. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Exceeding expectations

World Cup lead organizer deems event a huge success

Jul 15, 2025 | 12:07 PM

The 18th WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup in Prince Albert has come and gone, with Venezuela leaving as the new World Champions for the first time in the nation’s history.

The event attracted thousands of people from around the province, country and world to the Gateway to the North, with some travelling more than 16 hours overseas to watch their team play.

Chair of the local organizing committee Ian Litzenberger called the event a huge success.

“It was a very, very successful week for us; the tournament ran exceptionally smoothly. We really had nothing that popped up with any issues for us.”

Litzenberger said that everyone he met praised the event and how well everything was planned.

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“The fans found our community, our park, our people just awesome. They were all so filled with gratitude and enjoyed the tournament. Even the WBSC, the officials, umpires, and the players, they’ve never been to a tournament like this, and many have said that it’s the best [World Cup] they’ve ever attended.”

He credited the over 300 volunteers who sacrificed their time and effort during the six-day tournament and said it wouldn’t have been possible without their help.

“It’s everybody that [lent] their hand and whether they worked 10 hours or 10,000, it can’t be done without each and every one of them. It’s all a piece of the puzzle to make sure that we do what we’re there to do and give the best experience we possibly can so that we can host an exceptional World Cup.”

Litzenberger explained the event capped off an 11-year road from when the project was first brought forward.

“It was a great success and when you put in all that legwork to do it, at the end of the day, it’s for the teams and it’s for the fans. Having them both be very humbled and happy with what went on at our tournament, that’s very humbling on the reverse side, right back at us. You jump into this journey and that’s the whole accomplishment and that’s what we did. We were able to give the fans and the community and the teams everything that they were hoping for in the tournament.”

In 2017, the City of Prince Albert raised $1.6 million to upgrade Prime Ministers Park through Project Triple Play. The money was used to build Rotary Field as well as expand a second diamond in the park, providing the complex with four regulation size fields.

The upgrades were made ahead of the U18 Men’s Softball World Cup in 2018, and eventually led to the city being awarded the Men’s World Cup Group B Qualifiers in 2024 and the 18th WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup finals.

The tournament in 2018 had an economic impact of approximately $10 million, while the 2024 qualifiers were $3.66 million.

-With files from paNOW’s Teena Monteleone and the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC)

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

On Bluesky: @loganlehmann.bsky.social