Editor’s notes: The article below appeared in the Quad City newspaper last Thursday, but requires a correct and clarification.

A move of the ISC II Tournament of Champions to nearby Rock Island, it is not a done deal. If the proposal is made to move the ISC II to that complex, the tournament host, the Quad Cities Sports Commission would have to approve it, and then the revised contract would have to be reviewed and voted on by the ISC Executive Committee.

Additionally, the article states that Midland, Michigan will host the ISC World Tournament in 2010. While they are in discussions with the ISC to host the 2010 tournament, the decision as to who will host in 2010 remains to be made.

By Doug Green | Thursday, September 18, 2008 Quad-City Times

There could be one change when the International Softball Congress, or ISC Men’s World Fastball Tournament comes to the Quad-Cities in 2009.

The event, which is expected to generate $11 million in revenue, is scheduled to be played at Green Valley Complex in Moline.

But a proposal under consideration is that the ISC II Men’s Fastball Tournament of Champions — a separate tournament governed by the same body as the World Tournament — would be held at the Campbell Complex in Rock Island. Tournament officials want the split between the two complexes for safety reasons and press box room.

“Using a baseball analogy, ISC is Major League Baseball and ISC II is Triple-A, so it’s just a competitive notch below. If we would use all four diamonds at Green Valley, and that was the plan they had given us, two would be for the world tournament and two of them would be for ISC II. Men’s fastpitch softball is played by strong, talented athletes who throw the ball hard, pitch the ball hard, and swing the bat hard. And they hit long foul balls and they hit a lot of foul balls,” Ken Hackmeister, executive director of ISC, said.

Fans at Green Valley would be sitting with their backs to the other fields and would not be able to see foul balls from other diamonds. According to Hackmeister, a foul ball at Green Valley could land in the middle of a neighboring diamond.

Even though the tournament was held in Rock Island in the 1960s and ’70s, the Quad-Cities is being treated like a first-time host. The host team for the tournament will be the Quad-City Sox, an ISC world team.

“I think everybody on the Quad-City Sox is really excited about it. No. 1, we haven’t had a tournament here since 1968 or ’69, but our goal is to put the best team on the field and try to win a world championship,” Sox coach Steve Kaiser said.

Other cities under consideration to host the event were Midland, Mich., and Eau Claire, Wis.

“We know that there is a history and tradition that our sport is known here and we are hoping to capitalize on that history,” Hackmeister said.

The Quad-Cities will host in 2009 and has an option for 2011. They must accept or reject that option by Jan. 1. Midland will host the event in 2010.

“We typically award one tournament at a time, two years in advance. However, in this case, they asked for an option for 2011, and we gave it to them,” Hackmeister said. “It’s basically a flat bid, then we have requirements on fields, on number of hotel rooms, certain obligations that the hosts have to provide. They met all those requirements for the ’09 contract, so it’s safe to assume that if they choose to accept the option they will meet those requirements for 2011,” Hackmeister said.

The Quad-City Convention and Visitors Bureau helped bring the tournament to the Quad-Cities and expects it to do well.

“It’s an $11 million estimated economic impact if we draw the crowds we drew in the 1960’s,” Lynn Hunt, vice president of sales for the Quad-City Convention and Visitors Bureau, said. “The teams are coming from all over the nation and the world. We could have the Bahamas playing here, we’ll have Canadian teams playing, U.S. teams, for a nine-day period.”

At a glance

What: ISC Men’s World Fastball Tournament and ISC II Men’s Fastball Tournament of Champions

When: August 14-22, 2009

Cost: Adults $5, Seniors (age 60 and over) $3, 16 and under free, 9 day pass $35 through June 1, $45 after June 1, Seniors $25. Tickets available after January 1, 2009.

ISC II VP Jim Williamson talks about the ISC World Tournament coming to Quad Cities in this news report. Click the photo below to activate the video.

The International Softball Conference announced that the ISC Tournament of Champions will be held this Aug. in Moline. The tournament will be held in the Quad Cities for the first time since the 1970s. In the photo from left are: Ken Hackmeister, President, International Softball Congress (ISC), Steve Kaiser, Sean Marten, Bill Kranz and Jim Williamson. Photo: John Greenwood

Daniel Makarewicz, danmak@qconline.com

A discussion lasting nearly three years finally ended with good news on Wednesday.

Quad Cities will once again host a high-profile softball tournament.

The International Softball Congress announced during a press conference at the Isle of Capri Casino Hotel in Bettendorf that the Quad Cities will host the Men’s World Fastball Tournament and the ISC II Tournament of Champions in August.

The World Tournament will be held at the Greenvalley Complex in Moline, while the ISC Tournament will compete at the Campbell Complex in Rock Island.

“We know that there’s a history, a tradition, a following that our sport has known here and we’re hoping to capitalize on that history,” said ISC Executive Director Ken Hackmeister.

Rock Island hosted the ISC World Tournament a record 10 times in a 13-year span between 1961 and 1973.

“We knew we had the fan base and people interested in it,” QCCVB Vice President Lynn Hunt said. “We saw it as an opportunity to bring an adult sporting event that would cause a fabulous economic impact. We really thought the community support it with there connection. We thought it was a natural fit.”

The contract, which was signed last October, stipulates that the Quad Cities will host the 2009 tournament and will have an option to host again in 2011. The option must be exercised before Jan. 1, 2009, Hackmeister said.

“If they’re not going to hold in 2011, we’ve got to use the 2009 tournament to solicit other bidders,” he said. “In a way it puts them in a disadvantage. But on the other hand, we don’t want to put ourselves in a disadvantage.”

Hunt said the QCCVB started the bidding process in 2005 “just to find out exactly what it would take to bring the event here.” The committee toured the 2007 and 2008 tournaments – which were held in Kitchener, Ontario, and Kimberly, Wisc., respectively — to “get a good idea of what was expected,” she said.

Hackmeister said the Quad Cities’ bid was appealing because “they were a CVB-operating committee” and had “a history” of hosting this event.

“We know the fans support it,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of ex-players living in this area and we just felt like it was an ideal location.”

Hackmeister said the World Tournament would use two fields of the four fields at Greenvalley and the ISC World Tournament will utilize all four fields at Campbell.

The two tournaments were originally going to be played simultaneously at Greenvalley, but the ISC recommended that the two be separated for fan and player safety, according to Hackmeister.

Hackmeister said Midland, Mich., Eau Claire, Wisc., Allentown, Pa., and Mankato, Minn., all placed bids to host the 2009 tournament.

The tournament will mark the second straight summer the Quad Cities have hosted a national tournament. In August, the USA/ASA Girls’ Class A 18-Under Fast Pitch Tournament was held at Greenvalley.

Hunt said the QCCVB made that a huge selling point.

“I think it gave confidence to the ISC that we’ve hosted the ASA and other large events,” she said. “They know that we have the people, the infrastructure to support it and the volunteers. I think it gave them the confidence to say, ‘Yeah, the Quad Cities can host it.’”