The City of Surrey will play host to the softball Olympic qualifier tournament this year.

Last August, Surrey was chosen by Softball Canada as the country乌鸦传媒檚 bid city for the 2019 Americans qualifier 乌鸦传媒� which will determine two of six berths for the women乌鸦传媒檚 softball tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) announced on Twitter Sunday that the 2019 Americas qualifier tournament is to be held Aug. 25 to Sept. 1 in the city.

chairman Greg Timm told Peace Arch News Sunday that Canada was up against Mexico and Colombia to host the tournament, but Canada was selected despite the fact that two of the competing countries had more money on the table.

乌鸦传媒淭hey had lots of money, far more than we have,乌鸦传媒� Timm said. 乌鸦传媒淚 think this is an acknowledgement to the fact that in this town, our volunteers are good organizers. The world association has a lot of trust that we will do what we say and we will comply with everything we bid on.乌鸦传媒�

Timm said that trust played a major role in the decision.

乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e become internationally known to be a great host. Sometimes those are the stories that aren乌鸦传媒檛 told about Surrey, quite honestly. We have a great reputation for hosting teams fairly. We don乌鸦传媒檛 cook the books here, we don乌鸦传媒檛 cheat, we don乌鸦传媒檛 manipulate results, umpires are fair, and the truth happens in our tournament.

乌鸦传媒淭he best team wins, and that乌鸦传媒檚 what sport is about.乌鸦传媒�

Softball is returning to the Olympics after being discontinued as a medal sport since 2008.

The return of softball to the Olympics, Timm said, is huge.

乌鸦传媒淚t is an amateur sport, so money matters,乌鸦传媒� Timm said. 乌鸦传媒淲hen you乌鸦传媒檙e an Olympic sport, you get government funding, sponsorship funding. When you乌鸦传媒檙e a non-Olympic sport, you乌鸦传媒檙e not recognized, really, at the national level,乌鸦传媒� he said.

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The Europe-Africa qualifier tournament is to be held in the Netherlands July 23-28 and the Asia-Oceania qualifier tournament is to be held in China Sept. 24-29.

As the host country, Japan is guaranteed a spot in the 2020 games, and the United States has secured a spot after winning the world championships.

Currently, Canada is ranked third in the world for women乌鸦传媒檚 softball, and the first- and second-place finishers of the 2019 Americans qualifier tournament will play in the 2020 Tokyo games.

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 a big deal for our sport. I don乌鸦传媒檛 know, can you name another summer Olympic sport where Canada is ranked that high?乌鸦传媒� Timm said.

乌鸦传媒淲e think it乌鸦传媒檚 the only Olympic qualifier, of any sport, on Canadian soil this year.乌鸦传媒�

The WBSC乌鸦传媒檚 bid-city announcement had been twice-delayed since Surrey was chosen as Canada乌鸦传媒檚 entry late last summer. Originally, Timm told PAN that they expected to hear from the WBSC no later than mid-September. Due to delays within the WBSC, that deadline was then pushed until late November, and until Sunday, one day after the sports organization wrapped up meetings in Rome.

Timm agreed that the qualifier tournament is to be the most significant softball tournament in Surrey乌鸦传媒檚 history.

乌鸦传媒淲e held the world championships in 2016 and we shaped that to be all inclusive. We had countries that we knew weren乌鸦传媒檛 going to win, but could participate. This has a lot more significance for Canada. This is a really important event,乌鸦传媒� he said.

Timm said 16 countries from the Caribbean region, South America, North America and Central America will be invited.

乌鸦传媒淲e are really excited about the chance to host this Olympic Qualifier, we thank the WBSC for the opportunity乌鸦传媒� said Softball Canada President Kevin Quinn in a news release.

National team members, too, were excited with the weekend announcement.

Canadian pitcher Danielle Lawrie-Locke 乌鸦传媒� a former White Rock Renegades star 乌鸦传媒� tweeted Sunday that she was 乌鸦传媒渟o excited to play in front of our HOME crowd! Especially my two little girls.乌鸦传媒�

Surrey乌鸦传媒檚 Holly Speers 乌鸦传媒� another national team member 乌鸦传媒� was also excited.

乌鸦传媒淧laying on home soil for the Olympic qualifier乌鸦传媒� it doesn乌鸦传媒檛 get much better than that,乌鸦传媒� she tweeted.

Playing on home soil for the Olympic qualifier... it doesn乌鸦传媒檛 get much better than that 鉂わ笍馃嚚馃嚘

乌鸦传媒� Holly Speers (@HollySpeers)

Softball Canada announced Surrey as its city-of-choice for its bid in August, highlighting the experience that the organizing committee 乌鸦传媒� headed up by Timm 乌鸦传媒� has in hosting previous international tournaments.

乌鸦传媒淚 can tell you today that the guys in Ottawa are popping champagne corks,乌鸦传媒� Timm said.

WBSC decision on dates and locations of Softball 馃�� Qualifiers:

馃實 Europe-Africa: Utrecht, Netherlands 馃嚦馃嚤23-28 July

馃寧 Americas: Surrey, Canada 馃嚚馃嚘 25 August - 1 September

馃審 Asia/Oceania: Shanghai, China 馃嚚馃嚦 24-29 September

乌鸦传媒� WBSC 鈿攫煡� (@WBSC)