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It's official - Canada Cup of Baseball is McMurray's in 2016

Baseball field with lines

The Regional Recreation Corporation of Wood Buffalo (RRC) made the official announcement of the arrival of the Canada Cup of Baseball to Fort McMurray in 2016 as announced by MyMcMurray yesterday.

“As we begin an exciting year of events in the Wood Buffalo region we are delighted to announce this event coming to the community in 2016,” said Russell Agnew, Interim Chief Operating Officer of the RRC. “This event is an opportunity for our community to enjoy elite level baseball and maybe even get a sneak peek at some future Canadian college and professional baseball players. Part of the incredible line-up of events coming to Shell Place beginning in the spring of 2015, the 2016 Baseball Canada Cup will continue the momentum we are building this year and bring another great new event to the region.”

The Canada Cup features the top 200 baseball players from across the country, all ten provinces will compete in an all-star team vs all-star team format featuring the best U-17 players in Canada.

Tournament games will be played at Shell Place, Ross Hennigar Ball Park and Ron Morgan Ball Park.

The tournament helps Baseball Canada select players for their National Junior Team and allows scouts from colleges to Major League Baseball an opportunity to scout the top tier talent in the country.

Fort McMurray Minor Baseball Association (FMMBA)President Kevin Breen says there’s a chance that we could see a Fort McMurrayite representing Team Alberta,”We’ve got some top kids at that level, even this year one of our guys was the last cut from Team Alberta for 2014. If we continue to focus on player development , I think there’s always a chance.”

FMMBA has had one player represent the province in the tournament from what Breen can recall.

Since the inception of the tournament in 1989, British-Columbia has won the competition 11 times, the most out of any of the ten provinces.

Alberta has never won gold, but finished with a silver medal last year in Saskatoon.

“We are so excited to partner with the RRC to bring the 2016 Baseball Canada Cup to Fort McMurray as we continue to build and develop the sport in the Wood Buffalo region,” said Breen.