Events

2025 Men’s Slo-Pitch Border Battle Team  

Selection Process 

Purpose 

The Men’s Slo-Pitch Border Battle team will compete in the Border Battle with the USA National Team. It will be a one game Championship format, with a series of preliminary games leading up to the event. The Border Battle will take place July 23-27th, 2025, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The purpose of this document is to set out the process that will be used by Softball Canada to invite athletes to participate in this event. 

Objectives 

• Invite eligible athletes to an Athlete pool. Athletes in the Pool are those identified by Softball Canada as having demonstrated potential to earn a position on the team(s).  
• Invite the best possible Team for the one-game challenge. While some objective criteria will be used to invite the Team, it is also recognized that there is a significant subjective element. These elements include such factors as performance, experience, positional requirements, leadership and team cohesion. 

Eligibility 

To be eligible to be invited to participate with the Men’s Slo-Pitch Border Battle Team, an athlete must be a member in good standing of Softball Canada, a Canadian Citizen, or have a Permanent Resident card, and must meet any age and citizenship requirements stipulated by the organizers of the event at which the Team will be competing.  

Selection Committee 

The selection committee will consist of up to six experienced Slo-Pitch leaders, a Softball Canada Board Representative, and a staff member. The coach will be one of the six leaders. The leaders will rank players based on criteria established and past performance in the Border Battle, Canadian Championships, recent Provincial play and/or other recent competitive activities at the national or provincial level. 

Athlete Selection Process 

The evaluation criteria the “Border Battle Player Selection Form’, will be used to identify athletes for the team. Athletes will be ranked using this system to create a depth chart of athlete talent. 

Athletes will be invited to the Team with the goal being to put together the best possible Team for this event. Factors that will be considered in this invitation include the physical and technical aspects of the game, as well as team dynamics. These factors include but are not limited to: 

• Previous and current performance in Border Battle, Provincial and National Play 

• Experience 

• Positional requirements (primary and backup) 

• Present and projected development and/or improvement  

• Leadership/Contribution to team chemistry 
• Availability for competition  

It is understood that in making selections to invite the best possible Team, it is possible that the best individual athletes may not be invited.