By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Finger Pointing as National Tournament Moves from Lethbridge to Leduc

Jun 7, 2016 | 5:19 PM

LETHBRIDGE – There’s controversy swirling around the 2016 NSA Canada Coed World Series, as the softball tournament moves from Lethbridge to Leduc.

National Slo-Pitch Athletics Enterprises of Canada President, Terry Sibbick, sent out a media release Monday, saying they were forced to move the event because of issues with management at Softball Valley.

“Everything seemed to be going good, right up until a couple weeks ago, (Sheldon Dyck with the Lethbridge Mixed Slowpitch Association) felt that everything was going to get approved, but we never really got final confirmation,” Sibbick told Lethbridge News Now. “Last Monday we just got a notice… we actually haven’t received any notification… but Sheldon was told that Softball Valley wasn’t interested in hosting the event there this year.”

Sibbick went on to say that they have yet to get an explanation for Softball Valley’s decision.

When contacted for a response, Softball Valley General Manager, Hank Stoffer, was quick to state that they made things clear when they hosted the event for the first time last year.

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“In 2015 when we decided to host, we were helping them out of a bind because they had just lost their spot in Calgary and they were desperately needing a place, so we said we would help them out for one year, we had no intention of doing it again,” explained Stoffer. “We told them we would not do it every year, we would like to do it every couple of years, but not every year.”

Stoffer continued by saying they confirmed their decision in December, and gave the NSA the same answer when they approached them again in April.

He added that while NSA Canada is a for-profit business, Softball Valley is non-profit and relies on volunteers for events such as the Canada Coed World Series. He noted that some of the last year’s volunteers put in 40-hours of work during the weekend tournament.

“Our biggest goal is for the members of our park and that’s what we look after, we’re not here for somebody else to come here and make money, we look after the members of our park,” stated Stoffer.

In talking with Sibbick, he says they hope to return to Lethbridge and Softball Valley in 2017, adding that a report from Lethbridge Sport Tourism credited the event for bringing $2.5-million into the city in 2015.

While not entirely closing the door on the idea, Stoffer replied, “Given what’s been happening over the last couple days, the likelihood is diminishing.”

This year’s tournament kicks off July 29 in Leduc.

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