With qualifiers wrapped up, Thunder Bay International Baseball Association looks ahead to 2024 World Cup

Now that the 2023 Women's Baseball World Cup qualifiers have wrapped up, the Thunder Bay International Baseball Association (TBIBA) is looking ahead to an even bigger event next year: the world cup finals themselves.

Six international teams competed in the qualifiers, which were held at Baseball Central and Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay last week. And all indications are the event was a big success, said TBIBA president Nick Melchiorre.

"It was a blur, really, but it went well," Melchiorre said.

The players, he said, were happy with their accommodations at Lakehead University, as well as the fields themselves.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation, meanwhile, "was happy with the the fact they got all 15 games in, and they were competitive games," Melchiorre said. "I think Thunder Bay showed its true spirit, and we looked really good."

That's not to say the event didn't have its challenges. Weather led to delays, and heavy rain saw the postponement of all games scheduled for Friday; those games were played on Sunday instead.

But the biggest challenge came after Wednesday's games.

Tuesday's and Wednesday's qualifier games were played at Baseball Central, as the Thunder Bay Border Cats were playing their final games of the 2023 Northwoods League season at Port Arthur Stadium.

However, with the Cats finished, qualifier games moved to the stadium.

"Picking up and moving everything during the tournament within 24 hours was a big effort in the volunteers of TBIBA and the City of Thunder Bay," Melchiorre said. "We rolled up our sleeves and got it done."

The qualifiers had a big economic impact on the city, as well, said John Cameron, tourism development officer with Tourism Thunder Bay.

"We estimated that there was probably going to be an economic impact of $1.1 million to about $1.2 million for this event, just based on the budget to put on the event, and then all the teams traveling here and staying for 6-7 days in the city, plus family members that travel with the teams as well," he said. "Those numbers add up."

Final numbers aren't yet available, Cameron said, so the exact impact isn't yet known.

However, whatever impact the 2023 qualifiers had will likely be less than what's coming in 2024, when the city hosts the Women's Baseball World Cup finals, as they're expected to include teams from Japan and Chinese Taipei, both of which are "huge baseball countries," Melchiorre said.

Japan and Chinese Taipei are competing in the Group B qualifiers, which will be held in Japan next month (Canada, Mexico and the United States moved on to the World Cup finals after the Group A qualifiers in Thunder Bay).

"You'll see a lot more international media," he said. "There's a big following internationally of baseball more in Asia than in North America, and you'll probably see that element more so next year."

"The competition will be stronger and there will be more parity, because we're dealing with the best six teams in the world," Melchiorre said.

And while the exact dates of the 2024 Women's Baseball World Cup haven't yet been determined — the World Baseball Softball Confederation is working with the Border Cats and Northwoods League on that, as all World Cup games will be played at Port Arthur Stadium — the lead-time has the TBIBA hopeful they can build plenty of interest prior to the start of competition.

"We would like to perhaps have more community events that happen beforehand," Melchiorre said. "For example, Baseball Canada was in Halifax the week before they came to Thunder Bay and did a clinic for young women."

"We're hoping that some of the teams will come earlier and get acclimatised," he said. "We've already spoken to a few teams that are coming here, for example Mexico, about the potential of them coming earlier, and playing some games, and spending some more time in the community."

Cameron said hosting major sports events like the Women's Baseball World Cup will help Thunder Bay when bidding on future events.

"These events showcase that Thunder Bay is a great host city," he said. "To host any type of championship, you need a venue that meets the specs required for hosting that championship event, whether it's a Canadian championship or world championship."

"So when we host these national championships, that just showcases that Thunder Bay is a great host for national, international events, and we have the volunteer support from those sports organizations to actually execute these events as well."