Surrey, BC – The war in Ukraine has placed a tremendous strain on the country’s ability to financially support the participation of their athletes on the world stage. Despite this, the leadership of Ukraine has continued to encourage its athletes and their desire to proudly represent their flag in international competition. As such, the Ukrainian Women’s Junior National Softball team has applied to participate in the 2023 Canada Cup in Surrey, British Columbia.
The Board of Directors of the Canada Cup, regarded as the premier annual women’s softball event in the world, has accepted the Ukrainian team and, in light of the circumstances has established a fundraising campaign in collaboration with the BC Amateur Sport Fund to support their efforts to play in the July 7-16 event at Softball City in Surrey.
Individuals and corporations can financially support Team Ukraine U19’s ability to participate:
BC Amateur Sport Fund (Each donation is eligible for a tax receipt)
“Each year our committee reaches out to the international community to bring world-class teams to our event. When we learned that the U19 junior national team from Ukraine desperately wanted to participate in the Canada Cup, but didn’t have the resources to do so, we saw it as our duty to simply do the right thing,” says event chair Greg Timm. “Our understanding is the team has a great deal of enthusiasm and have a great desire to represent their country – so we are going to make it happen.”
The Ukrainian team has tried to its best to stick together throughout the war, but because of the consistent threat of attacks in Kyiv, many of these brave young women have been forced to leave their families behind and flee to the Czech Republic and Poland. Representing their country at the Canada Cup will also allow the team to fully reunite and get back to the sport they love.
“Nothing unites people like sports and we are thrilled to be coming to Canada to compete in this world-class tournament,” says Team Ukraine U19 Coach Vasyl Kysil. “We have had to overcome some major obstacles, but we have remained committed to fielding an elite fastpitch team that prides itself in representing our great country.“
VIDEO: MESSAGE FROM COACH VASYL KYSIL AND PLAYERS
The Canada Cup will run from July 7th-16th at Softball City, Surrey. The 2023 event will be the largest in the tournament and Canadian history with more than 1500 elite athletes already confirmed to compete, including the Canadian National team.
Canada Cup tickets are now on sale: https://canadacup.com/tickets-2023/ For more information about the tournament visit: www.CanadaCup.com
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About The Canada Cup International Softball Championship:
The Canada Cup International Softball Championship is operated by the Canadian Amateur Sport Society, a registered not-for-profit society dedicated to advocating and encouraging the development of the sport of softball by staging a first class, family oriented elite international fastpitch event. The event is devoted to providing young, high caliber, female athletes the opportunity to expand their potential and ability by fielding elite level fastpitch teams, provide a source of inspiration and mentorship to the youth of the sport, and provide an entertaining, fun-filled sporting experience for the Canada Cup spectator.
Media Contact:
Laura Ballance
604.771.5176
Adam Forsythe
778.989.1469
