SPORTS. The communities of Saint-Gervais and Honfleur will host the Canadian Fast Pitch Championship for under-17s from August 6-11, 2024.

A request to this effect was sent to Softball Canada last fall, which approved the hosting of this national championship last February.

It should be noted that this will be the first Canadian Fastball Championship to be held in Bellechasse since the 2015 Seniors and Masters Championships in Saint-Gervais and Sainte-Claire. In 2019, Saint-Raphaël hosted an Eastern Canada Championship for the under-15s.

Jean Roy, member of the organizing committee, points out that the nine-person committee is already working hard to make this Canadian championship a success. The committee aims to attract between 10 and 12 teams from different provinces.

“We know there will be two teams from Quebec, including possibly a host team. We are already working on the composition of these teams. Will it be two Quebec teams made up of the best players in the province, or one host team and one Quebec team? We’re thinking about this question,” he mentions, recalling that Bellechasse and Quebec are the two regions with the most players Québec.

Mr Roy indicates that next summer an U15 team will compete in the Eastern Canada Championships, which will be held in Fredericton in mid-August, and another at the U17 level, which will compete in the Canadian Championships, also held in Fredericton in early August instead of.

“The U17 team consists mostly of 16-year-old players, which is good because most of them will still be U17 next year. “These are young people who have been playing together for three years and we will have U15s who will make the leap to U17s next year,” he said, adding that there are currently two U15 teams, one for each region.

The current U17 formation consists of players from both regions, with players from Bellechasse being in the majority.

Note that the Organizing Committee has met three times so far and will meet again in September. The logo for this Canadian championship has been created and should soon be approved by Softball Canada, claims Jean Roy, who mentions that the promotional materials used to promote the event should be ready for next August’s competitions in Fredericton.

With a view to the 2023 championship, it is already certain that the main venue will be Saint-Gervais, with a secondary venue in Honfleur. The committee also wants to lease land in the surrounding communities for the various teams’ drills. The search for funding and partners for this event is also underway.