Ottawa, Ont. – Softball Canada and Kahunaverse Sports Group – formerly Home Run Sports – are pleased to announce they will be hosting the tenth edition of the Men’s and Women’s Slo-Pitch Border Battle at Peter Hallman Ball yard in Kitchener, Ont. from July 27-29 featuring the top Slo-Pitch athletes in North America. USA Softball has hosted the event for eight of the last nine years, the only exception being the 2014 Border Battle taking place in Kitchener drawing large crowds.
“Softball Canada is thrilled to be hosting the tenth edition of the Border Battle in Canada” said Softball Canada President Kevin Quinn. “Kitchener has a long history of hosting successful softball events and I am sure the 2018 Border Battle will be a huge success. We are extremely pleased to be expanding the opportunity for more of our elite Slo-Pitch athletes to be taking part in this event. It is extremely exciting to have the opportunity to showcase our champion Men’s and Women’s Team as well as other Canadian athletes competing. I want to welcome all the athletes and fans who will be part of the excitement in Kitchener.”
Kahunaverse Sports Group (KSG) will be hosting the event on Canadian soil. They have been a key partner of Softball Canada since 2007, managing the successful Umpire Apparel program and providing support towards other areas of Softball Canada’s operations including the Canadian Championships and National Teams programs.
“We at the Kahunaverse Sports Group along with Softball Canada are thrilled with the opportunity to host such a premier Slo-Pitch championship” stated Scott Neiles from KSG. “Our past experience of hosting the event in 2014 only encourages us to make this year’s Border Battle bigger and better for both the participating players and the thousands of Slo-Pitch enthusiasts that will be in attendance.”
Team Canada is riding high after winning the inaugural Women’s Slo-Pitch Border Battle against the United States by a score of 12-8, with the Men’s team going on to defeat the United States 31-28 for their second win in nine years in 2017. Both of those games were played in Oklahoma City on Canada Day (July 1st) amidst Canada’s 150th Anniversary celebrations north of the border.
The coaching staff from both teams will return to defend their titles, with Grant Garrett (Georgetown, Ont.) and Mike Hrynenko (Winnipeg, Man.) coaching the Men’s team and Tony Carnelos (Georgetown, Ont.) and Kelly Hryniw (Ardrossan, Alta.) leading the Women’s team. The team selection process will begin shortly.
In addition to the Team Canada and Team USA Men’s and Women’s Slo-Pitch teams, the event is also expected to feature a pair of Canadian Kahunaverse Sports | HRS teams (East and West), the USA Futures team and the OC club team from Grimes, Iowa in the Men’s division, as well as Kahunaverse Sports | HRS and On Point club (Grimes, Iowa) teams on the Women’s side. The six Men’s teams and four Women’s teams will compete in a series of games leading up to the two annual Border Battle games between Team Canada and Team USA.
