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Canada Cup organizer Greg Timm said the goal of the event is to “celebrate what we say is the unifying power of sport.”
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Published Jul 04, 2024 • Last updated 5 hours ago • 4 minute read
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Team Israel’s Arizona Ritchie celebrates a run scored against the Philippines on Wednesday at Softball City in South Surrey. Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG
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The private security firm staff sticking close to the Team Israel dugout for their Wednesday morning game at Softball City was a hint that this might not be your standard Canada Cup women’s softball tournament.
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That was proven correct later that evening. Forty or so pro-Palestine protesters lined up along the outer fences of the South Surrey complex, waving signs and chanting to denounce the inclusion of the Israeli squad in the event during their Wednesday night game against Team Canada.
Canada came away with a 10-3 victory. The tournament continues through the weekend.
There were 20 Surrey RCMP members at the ballpark Wednesday night, along with the security firm. The protesters declined to purchase tickets to enter the venue, according to Canada Cup officials.
There was a sign with a swastika, but the RCMP didn’t seize it. Tournament officials say they were told by police that it would not be confiscated because it couldn’t alone be considered a symbol of hate speech.
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The Surrey RCMP sent this statement via email Thursday afternoon: “Display of the swastika, in the absence of other criminality, does not constitute an offence in Canada. The symbol of the swastika has not been recognized in Canada as a symbol of hate or hate speech. In fact, as recent as 2021, a private members bill was introduced into the House of Commons to formally recognize the swastika and other symbols as symbols of hate; Bill C-313 did not go past first reading.”
This is the second straight year that Israel has taken part in the Canada Cup. The tournament, which dates back to 1993, has featured 42 nations over the years, according to chairman Greg Timm.
“We’re trying to celebrate what we say is the unifying power of sport,” Timm said. “We’ve had communists and capitalists. We’ve had rich and poor. We’ve had countries on the field who hate each other.
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“We’ve had the China versus Chinese-Taipei situation lots of times here. On the political side, they don’t like each other. On the personal side, after the game the players hug. That’s the reality of sports. I always have that in mind. That’s the thing we’re trying to cascade here.
“Our belief is that sport brings the world closer. It doesn’t take it apart. There are big political situations all over the world. We are sports people. We are not political.”
Team Israel pitcher Robyn Wampler and catcher Kat Montoya smile vs. Team Philippines at Canada Cup at Softball City in South Surrey, BC, July 3, 2024. Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG
Israel beat the Philippines 4-3 in their game Wednesday morning. They carried a 2-2 record into action on Thursday at the 12-team tournament.
Justin Kaplan heads up the Israel coaching staff at this tournament. He is from Birmingham, Ala., and coaches club softball there. He said in an interview after the win over the Philippines that the Israel players range in age from 17 to 27, and they are largely Americans with dual citizenship.
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Shortstop Arizona Ritchie is an example. She grew up in Stafford, Va., and finished her NCAA eligibility in 2023 at George Washington University as a graduate student transfer after starting out her collegiate playing career with the University of Virginia.
The Washington Jewish Week wrote last March about how she founded the Jewish Student-Athletes Club during her time at Virginia.
Israel remains a program in good standing with both the International Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
The Canada Cup is part of Israel’s preparation for the European championships, which are slated for Sept. 1-7 in Utrecht, Netherlands. In the bigger picture, Kaplan says that the program is aiming to be in the mix to make the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics.
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Women’s softball returns to the Olympics that year as part of host countries being able to add sports popular in their regions. Women’s softball was on the docket for Tokyo 2020, but has been left off for Paris 2024.
“I think this is a group that has a lot of potential. I think there are some important players also who were not able to be here this week,” Kaplan said. “Making it (to the Olympics) would be unbelievable. For the country it would be amazing. Having watched the baseball team do it (for Tokyo 2020) and how the world galvanized around them … it would be awesome all the hard work people have put into this program to lead to something like that.”
A news release saying that community members and athletes were going to gather at Softball City on Wednesday night to denounce Israel’s inclusion in the tournament went out to media outlets that morning. There were other mentions of it across social media platforms.
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The release quoted organizer Dania Barakat as saying that her group was “deeply troubled and angered by the warm welcome for Israeli sports representatives by the City of Surrey and Government of Canada,” and that “genocide apologists should not be welcome!”
Several politicians were quick to call out the protesters on social media after the game. That included South Surrey MLA Elenore Sturko, whose riding is home to the ballpark. Sturko, who recently crossed the floor to the B.C. Conservatives from B.C. United, wrote on X that, “I’m disgusted and heartbroken to see the blatant antisemitism displayed by protesters who showed up,” and that the protest “didn’t spoil the camaraderie between nations and spirit of the game.”
sewen@postmedia.com
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Courtesy : https://theprovince.com/sports/pro-palestine-protesters-disrupt-team-israel-at-canada-cup-softball-tournament