Venezuela celebrates their first Men's Softball World Cup at Rotary Field in Prince Albert on July 13, 2025. (Nick Nielsen/paNOW)

By Logan Lehmann

11 years in the making

Year in Review: Venezuela wins Men’s Softball World Cup in Prince Albert

Dec 28, 2025 | 2:00 PM

After what was more than a decade of work, planning, and renovations at Prime Ministers Park, the first pitch at the 18th WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup in Prince Albert was finally thrown this past summer.

Eight of the world’s top men’s softball teams descended on the Gateway to the North in July to battle for world glory, featuring Canada, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Venezuela, the United States, and the Dominican Republic.

Over the course of the six-day tournament, the event attracted thousands of people from all corners of the province, country and world, with some travelling more than 16 hours overseas to watch their team play. In the end, Venezuela crowned themselves World Champions at Rotary Field with a 3-0 shutout of New Zealand. The USA took home bronze with a 10-1 thrashing of Japan.

Chair of the local organizing committee Ian Litzenberger called the event a huge success.

“It was a very, very successful week for us; the tournament ran exceptionally smoothly. We really had nothing that popped up with any issues for us.”

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He credited the over 300 volunteers who sacrificed their time and effort during the tournament, saying it wouldn’t have been possible without their help.

“It’s everybody that [lent] their hand and whether they worked 10 hours or 10,000, it can’t be done without each and every one of them. It’s all a piece of the puzzle to make sure that we do what we’re there to do and give the best experience we possibly can so that we can host an exceptional World Cup.”

The 18th WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup was the successor to the World Cup Group B Qualifying tournament that was also held in Prince Albert in the summer of 2024, which saw Argentina and New Zealand punch their ticket to the big dance. Canada qualified for the World Cup as the host nation and finished fifth.

During the event, Litzenberger said that everyone he met praised the event and how well everything was planned.

“The fans found our community, our park, our people just awesome. They were all so filled with gratitude and enjoyed the tournament. Even the WBSC, the officials, umpires, and the players, they’ve never been to a tournament like this, and many have said that it’s the best [World Cup] they’ve ever attended.”

In 2017, the City of Prince Albert raised $1.6 million to upgrade Prime Ministers Park through Project Triple Play. The money was used to build Rotary Field as well as expand a second diamond in the park, providing the complex with four regulation size fields.

The upgrades were made ahead of the U18 Men’s Softball World Cup in 2018, and eventually led to the city being awarded the Men’s World Cup Group B Qualifiers in 2024 and the 18th WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup finals.

The tournament in 2018 had an economic impact of approximately $10 million, while the 2024 qualifiers were $3.66 million. Meanwhile, the main event in the 2025 World Cup brought in over $6.1 million to Prince Albert alone, and over $9.4 million to the country through other events played in.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com