Some of the comments from coaches, players, fans, and participants in all WBC programs about the 2009 Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines World Baseball Challenge...

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I can honestly say that after playing 11 yrs of pro ball and different places around the world that the mound in P.G was top three if not top two. Before pitching on the mound in P.G I thought the best mound I pitched on was in Blair Field in Long Beach and the guy who did that one was the same guy who does the Dodgers mound so that gives you a idea on where I am coming from.  I talked to the head ground crew guy in P.G. briefly and told him and he was happy about that. As soon as I left the game against Germany, Aaron Myette (former MLB starting pitcher) and I were talking about how good that mound was and he totally agreed.

Pro pitcher Jordy Alexander, player in 2009 World Baseball Challenge

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I really enjoyed my time at the 2009 World Baseball Challenge, I want to thank all the volunteers for all their hard work in making this event a success.
I thought I was in a professional atmosphere during my time there, from hanging out in the clubhouse with the boys before the games to seeing all the fans out to watch the games.
This event was a great way for some talented players to show what they could do in front of the city of Prince George.
After playing in the WBC, I have been given the opportunity to go to Germany and play professionally over there, which should be another great experience for me.
Thanks again to everyone that helped out in PG with this event and I hope to return again for the 2011 WBC and hope to see all the great fans out again to support there team.

Corey Parsons, RHP #12
Team BC

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I still cant believe how good of a show you guys put on up there, I had the time of my life, one of the best baseball experiences for me for sure. -- Mike Styrna, OF, Team BC (former UBC)

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I’m not sure if I ever got a chance to thank you for all of your hard work and your assistance at the World Baseball Challenge.  I know that I, and the players really enjoyed our time in the tournament.  Overall, everything was extremely well done and my hat's off to you.  Please send those sentiments to the committee!

Bradley Young,

Media/Public Relations, USA Baseball

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Just wanted to congratulate you on another successful event.  I cannot begin to imagine how much time and energy was invested.

I’m sure things were pretty crazy on your end both leading up to and during the WBC so I didn’t get much chance to talk to you.  You need to know that you and your volunteers should be commended for doing such a terrific job.  From a player/coach perspective, it was great to be a part of.  We were treated very well by everyone at UNBC, the field(s) and in town.

Thank you very much for allowing us to be a part of it. If you have the opportunity, please pass on special thanks for us to Myrna and Chico.  They were both awesome.

Tim Fehr, Team BC

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I thought I would give you a day or two off before I sent you this note. I can't begin to thank you enough for the hospitality and kindness you and your group afforded Ida and myself during our short stay in PG.Ida is and was extremely moved by your thoughtfulness when you presented her with the pink ball. It will always be front and centre at our house.I thank you for that.

If there were glitches,I certainly did not notice. Once again you confirmed to me that you,your great group of volunteers,sponsors,the City of Prince George and the fans can more than handle any baseball event that there is.I am now going to send a note to the Boards of Directors of both Baseball Canada and the International Baseball Federation telling them what a great event the WBC was.

Once again thank you and pass along our best wishes to Lori and the others. You are all special.

Regards

Ray Carter, President, Baseball Canada

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Hey,
I just wanted to say thank you to all the people that made this tournament possible...it was a real great experience -- everything (except the final outcome, haha) worked out great and made it easy for us to play - THANK YOU!!!!

But the greatest THANK YOU goes to all the fans that supported!! Thank you for trash talking and cheering at the same time - haha, that was just AWESOME!!!!

Andre Hughes, Team Germany pitcher

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I know I had a chance to thank you and everyone on your committee in person after the final game, but I really felt that after taking a few days to digest the event and everything surrounding it, that it would be doing your whole group an injustice if I didn’t take the time to put it on paper.

From the day the event was announced two years ago, right through to the closing ceremonies, everything about the event was handled with the utmost of professionalism and polish.  I truly can’t say I am at all surprised by that reality as I have more than come to expect that from our friends and volunteers in Prince George…But, I can tell you again, that you even managed to exceed my expectations and you simply blew me away.  It will not be long before the rest of the world is going to take notice and hold PG up in the highest regard when it comes to future opportunities.  And when that time comes, you can count on me and everyone at Baseball BC to stand beside you and support the initiative.

From my very unique vantage point during the event, I was fortunate enough to talk to many people ranging from athletes to volunteers, spectators to coaches…and without fail, the common theme mentioned was WOW!!  If you have the ability to make that impact on a huge group of people, you are clearly on the right path.

As you know, I have my own special reason why the base of the people who worked on this project with you are so special, but I feel I have to recite it here for your use and distribution…

“My wife and son, along with my Father in Law, made the trip from the Lower Mainland to the event for a few days and without thinking of the ramifications, brought our dog Dottie with them as is custom in my family (can’t leave a family member at home).  It was only after we arrived at the park the morning after they arrived that we learned that a city by-law prohibited pets in Citizen Field.  That led us to a bit of scrambling trying to figure out what to do with her for the next few days as I clearly couldn’t keep her with me at the dorms.  After checking around at the kennels to see if we could simply board her, we learned that there was just no room for her at any of the places we were able to find in town…I know, sad but true.  With the weather so hot it wasn’t possible to keep her in the car and we were now out of options.  I tried to sneak her into the park once, well I didn’t try too hard, as your trusty volunteer team was very much on top of things, and I proceeded to lay out my situation to the team at the gate.  While they were very sympathetic, it was clear that Dottie would have to stay somewhere else.  While I was panicking slightly as I was about to head onto the field for a game, a tremendous citizen materialized and quickly told me he would simply take Dottie home with him for as long as need be so that I wouldn’t have to worry and she would have fun playing with his dogs…WOW!!!  I should share now with you that I was not name dropping, nor was I overly identifiable with my clothes…in fact you might say I was trying to stay under the radar…and here is a man who didn’t know me from Adam jumping to the rescue simply because he wanted to help…again I say WOW!!!  With the people associated with the entire event sharing this common vision of service and citizenship, I can only imagine where this group could get to if it chose to.  Please be sure to pass along to Gerry from Coke, both mine and Dottie’s eternal gratitude”

While the above story is but a capsulation of the event, it certainly rings true in the spirit of hosting and service that everyone involved shared from start to finish.

In closing, I really think that you and your entire team (including Lori who was simply amazing) need to take a bow and realize what you have accomplished both for the game and your entire community.  It will never be forgotten by anyone who participated or took in the games from the bleachers…you made everyone feel like a professional for a week.

Talk about a legacy…I can’t see why this wouldn’t happen every two years, and I can’t wait to see the growth in registration at the minor youth level next year.

With the highest of regards,

David Laing

Executive Director

Baseball BC

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Letter to the WBC Committee,

    My name is Peter Campbell. I am a parent of two children that participated in the baseball camp that was held at Volunteer Park. I and my family would like to thank everyone that was involved in running and holding this camp: volunteers, organizers, sponsors, coaches.

    The experience was terrific for my children. My daughter is 11 and my son is 9. They both developed new skills and refined the skills they had and came away from the camp better ball players. The coaching was phenomenal. The knowledge that the coaches and players from the participating teams at the WBC were able to pass on is priceless. Importantly; while my children and all the other attendees learned new skills, they also had a great deal of fun while doing it. I was at the camp most of the time during the four days that it ran and I witnessed a very well run camp. I was impressed that a group of nearly a hundred children could be run so effectively and efficiently.

    I spoke with a parent from Vanderhoof who had brought their child to the camp. He was so impressed by the quality of coaches and how the camp was run that he was calling back home trying to get other parents to try and bring their kids to town to attend.

    My kids want me to mention that they loved the Pizza Hut lunches. To add to this, parents commented to me that they and their children were very happy with the healthy snacks and lunches that were supplied. 

    The cost of the camp was remarkable as well. This was a incredible price for what the children and parents received. My self and several other parents that I know who are either low-income families, single moms or students never would have had the chance to enroll their children in a camp like this if it were not for the low cost. I hope that if this camp is held again that the cost can be similar to this camp.

    We do not have enough baseball camps in Prince George. There are numerous hockey camps and soccer camps so it was great to have a baseball camp. By holding camps like this the young ball players in our community will develop their skills to a higher level and will hopefully stay playing baseball longer into their teens and into adulthood. There are not as many youth playing ball into their late teens anymore in Prince George so it would be great to build back up the interest in baseball again in town. I feel the WBC event and the youth baseball camp is a great way to rekindle this interest and participation. The PGYBA is running a Fall Ball session this year indoors at the UNBC Sports Centre for players aged 9 -12 who played ball last year in an attempt to develop players skills and interest in the game. A strong partnership between the WBC and the PGYBA in holding baseball camps could go a long way towards building up the participation levels of baseball players in Prince George. 

Thank you for hosting the World Baseball Challenge and the Youth Baseball Camp. Events like these are great for our community.

Peter Campbell

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Hi Jim, just wanted to let you know that we arrived at home and everything went well in travel. We further would like to thank you and all the hard working persons that assisted with making the tournament such a great success. More importantly, we would like to thank you all for the great hospitality shown to us while in your beautiful country. The people were among the greatest I have ever been associated with in all my travels. Great job and we are looking forward to our return in two years.

Craig Kemp and the Bahamas Baseball Federation executives and all our players.

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