Felix Casavant (left) coaches his grandson Beckett's softball team alongside his son Brad. (Submitted photo/Felix Casavant)

By Teena Monteleone

World Class Softball

Casavant’s devotion to the sport builds softball legacy in P.A.

Jun 11, 2024 | 6:00 AM

For Felix Casavant, softball has been a life-long love affair.

It started at the age of five for the Prince Albert resident who has spent more than five decades since then sharing his passion for the sport with family and the community.

“I’ve been a player, a coach and an organizer over all those years,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of good people along the way.”

Casavant competed in many levels – from the minors to Provincial Senior Men’s and Western Canadian Championships – as a pitcher and first baseman. But his proudest moments have come through coaching his kids and their children. In 2001, five players from the local Astro’s softball team, including his son Brad, were part of the Canadian Junior team that won a bronze medal at the World Championship in Sydney. Another proud moment came while coaching his son Brett’s team in Saskatoon. They took home a gold medal at the Senior B Western Canadian Championships.

“I’m so proud to have had the opportunity to coach U11 and U13 Astros with my son Brad as their pitching coach the last couple of years. I treasure the opportunity to coach my grandson Beckett,” he said. “Three generations of softball players is pretty special. It warms my heart to see the sport that I have loved since five years continue to strive and even more special to have the Casavant name continue to make its mark on the game.”

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Felix, top left, helped coach his grandson and the P.A. Astros U11 team in 2022 to a provincial softball title. (Submitted photo/Felix Casavant)

Felix was a founding member of the organization that promoted the sport of softball in Prince Albert in 1996. It now operates as the PA Minor Softball Association. He was inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame as a builder and player. He was named ‘Ambassador of Softball’ for the City of Prince Albert in 2018 by the mayor and council. That same year, he was named the Co-Citizen of the Year along with Derek Smith for bringing the World Junior Softball Championship to Prince Albert.

Part of that work included ‘Project Triple Play’ an initiative that helped build a new diamond and also expand Kinsmen Field to meet international requirements for hosting events.

“I’ll go back to 1983, when we had the Optimist which was just a clay diamond. We now have four diamonds at Prime Ministers Park, three diamonds with lights and all four diamonds with scoreboards. These diamonds are second to none in the world,” Casavant said.

Since 1996, he has been involved in the organizing committee for several provincial, Western, Canadian and World Championships hosted by Prince Albert.

P.A. was host to the hugely successful WBSC Junior Men’s Softball World Championship in 2018, which Casavant helped bid for. The event was later named ‘Marquee Event of the Year’ by Tourism Saskatchewan. (Photo courtesy: WBSC.org)

This year and next, he’ll act as the Honourary chair and Director of Finance for the Senior Men’s World Cup events which begin this July.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into making these bids. Just to give you an example, for the 2024 games that we were awarded…we began our committee shortly after the 2018 World Junior Softball event was over,” Casavant said. “Once you’re approved, that’s when all the work really starts happening. You have to put together your committees and we are so fortunate here in Prince Albert to have some of the best softball volunteers in the world, I would say. They are so dedicated and love the game as much as we do, so that makes it a lot easier – plus our past experience with hosting so many different events.”

There are seven executive members, 40 committee members and 140 volunteers working to make the event a success. Casavant said there are a lot of regulations and guidelines that need to be followed, particularly when hosting an international event like the one coming up in July, but the economic spinoff and lasting legacy makes them worth it.

“We estimate the World Softball Championships will bring $3.66 million to the city of Prince Albert during those five days,” Casavant said. “It’s just unbelievable what an event like that does for a small community like ours.”

Money made from the event is put right back into the facilities.

“Maintaining facilities like ours costs a lot and the city certainly contributes to that. But with our additional funding, we’re able to get the things done maybe quicker and then have it updated every year.”

Casavant, speaking at a P.A. city council meeting in 2020, has been a part of several bidding processes for softball events. (File photo/paNOW)

The upcoming 2024 Men’s Softball World Cup qualifier consists of three stages across the world – including Prince Albert, Mexico and Oklahoma. There will be six teams in each group and the top two teams from each and two wild card teams will attend the Men’s World Cup in 2025, which the city of Prince Albert is also hosting.

Teams from Argentina, Canada, New Zeland, Hong Kong, China, Israel and Singapore will be in action at the event which is expected to draw over 2,000 fans or more each day.

“I encourage all Prince Albert and area fans to come out and see some of the best softball in the world. We have kept our ticket prices down…$100 plus fees for the entire tournament July 10 to 14. It is rush seating so come early to get your favourite spot.”

Following the last game of the evening, there will be a live band on the grounds followed by a fireworks show. Tickets can be purchased by visiting wbscmensworldcup.com

Casavant will be living out a real life ‘Field of Dreams’ moment in July – knowing when that first pitch is thrown, it’s the hard work of he and the committee, along with his personal passion for the game, that’s brought the world stage to P.A.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @princealbertNOW