KITCHENER -- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 ISC World Tournament will no longer take place in Kitchener.
The Sunday morning statement from the International Softball Congress stated that they and the Kitchener host committee came to the agreement due to ongoing effects of the pandemic and the unknown future of it.
“With the potential travel restrictions and the impacts on sponsorships and volunteers in the Kitchener area, the host committee suggested to us that we should consider finding another host for the tournament,” said ISC Executive Director Larry Fisher in the statement.
The 2021 tournament will instead be held in Eldridge, Iowa, while the 2022 event is still set to be played in Moline, Illinois.
Jim Hallman, sponsor and board member of local team K-W Hallman Twins, says they're unsure if they will be able to go to this year's competition.
"It's hard to say," he said. "We've got a lot of players from Canada and we've got a number of players from Argentina. We only have a few from the US, so if the travel restrictions remain in place I'm not quite sure how that's going to happen."
ISC says that Kitchener will have the opportunity to host the event in 2023 if the host committee is interested.
