Starting on July 30, the sound of the crack of the bat will resonate throughout City Park – and will continue through August 8, as some of the country’s best 11- and 12-year-old baseball players play for the Canadian Little League Championship.
This will be the first time Kingston has hosted the Little League Nationals.
All games will take place at the recently renovated Cricket Field, a home for local hard ball for over 100 years.
The 2023 Canadian Little League Championship was originally awarded to the Kingston Baseball Association in 2019, but when the COVID-19 pandemic came in 2020, all of the championships were pushed back a year.
Transformation of the Cricket Field took place last summer and the bright green outfield grass and red clay infield were christened on July 21 with a pair of exhibition games between the Kingston Colts and the Ottawa West Twins.
As hosts, the Colts have a spot in the tournament, providing the chance to compete against the country’s top teams for a national title and a berth to the Little League World Series.
Working with the organizing committee made up of parents from the Kingston Baseball Association, the City of Kingston hired a contractor to reconfigure the diamond at the southwest end of the park. The diamond – with a new backstop – was moved back from its former location in the park, closer to the corner of Barrie and Bagot streets. Permanent and covered dugouts were built for the diamond and bleachers have also been installed along with foul poles.
An outfield fence was also constructed to meet Little League field standards, and an electronic scoreboard will be erected. Both will be taken down after the championship games.
Washroom and dressing room facilities will be available at the existing city-owned building across Bagot Street and an accessible path will be made from the diamond to the washrooms and facilities.
“Both Tourism Kingston and the City of Kingston have been a huge part of planning for this tournament,” said Kingston Baseball Association president Tori Boshart. “The city started by renovating Cricket Field for us to host the tournament downtown. It’s such a cool venue for a tournament of that size because the dorms at Queen’s are so close.”
Participating teams, coaches, and umpires will be staying in the newest Queen’s University residences while the Holiday Inn Kingston-Waterfront in downtown Kingston will be the host hotel for players’ families.
“We are so thrilled to be welcoming Canada’s best young baseball players to Kingston for the Canadian Little League Championship,” said Emma Lambert, Manager, Sport Partnerships, for Tourism Kingston. “It’s been incredibly energizing to see the Kingston community rally together to support this event. The strength of the Kingston Baseball Association has shone throughout the planning process. Local businesses have made significant contributions to help cover event costs, and so many Kingstonians have raised their hands to take on volunteer roles over this 11-day tournament.
“Sport events have an incredible impact on our community and the Little League Championship is a perfect example,”continued Lambert. “We’re expecting the tournament to generate $1.75 million in economic impact this summer. Sport hosting also allows us to further develop a local base of skilled sport volunteers, inspire a new generation of athletes, and can enable the renovation of sport facilities as we see with the new state-of-the-art Little League diamond at the historic Cricket Field. In hosting this tournament, we’re providing a national platform and development opportunity for youth from our community… from players to officials to aspiring sport media professionals, furthering the legacy of this iconic event and the strength of our local sport system”.
With special offers at restaurants, trolley tours, a curated K-Pass available from Kingston Destination Group, and plenty of action taking place at City Park throughout the tournament, visiting athletes and their fans will be experiencing all that our beautiful city has to offer.
The games are free to attend and members of the community are encouraged to stop by and check out the action. The full schedule can be found at kingstonbaseball.ca.
The Kingston Baseball Association has hosted three provincial Little League championships over the last few years, most recently the Intermediate division championship, which was won by the Kingston Colts on July 11.
The Colts had a majority of minor-aged first-year players on their roster during the 2023 season to expose them to the higher competition a year early, Boshart said.
“The competition is going to be stiffer than any competition we’ve ever met before, but I think they’ll do really well. They’ve done as much as they can and have been practising almost on a daily basis. I think they’re as ready as they can be,” she said.
The winner of the 10-team tournament will represent Canada in the iconic International Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania from August 14 to 25.
