Grand Forks International

Welcome to the Grand Forks International

The Grand Forks International Baseball Tournament traces its roots all the way back to 1968 when Larry Seminoff and other local baseball enthusiasts held the first annual International Labor day Tournament at James Donaldson Park. As the annual tournament grew and garnered more attention, Seminoff and company were able to secure a local sponsor in the Grand Forks and District Credit Union. In 1975, the Grand Forks International Baseball Tournament, as we know it, was born, and Grand Forks became home to what is recognized by many as one of the best tournaments of its kind in North America.

Ticket Options

View Ticket options. All Passes are available at the Gates during the Tournament.

Schedule

Check out the Tournament Schedule and Rules

Getting Here

Grand Forks International is held at James Donaldson Park in Grand Forks, British Columbia.

History of the GFI

The history of the Grand Forks International Baseball Tournament.

Hall of Fame

Tournament Champions, Past Winners, and GFI All-Stars.

ABOUT THE GRAND FORKS INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT

Steve Boutang, Tournament Chairperson

The executive of the Grand Forks International Baseball Tournament have made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s GFI which had been scheduled for June 28-July 4, 2021

The tournament was to have been the 38^th.

This is the 2^nd successive year that the tournament has been cancelled due to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Tournament Co-ordinator Steve Boutang indicated that the committee had no other choice but to cancel given the nature of the pandemic, the Health Officer’s guidelines, gathering restrictions, and the current state of the Canadian-US Border closure.

“We simply have too many things working against us at this point in time,” said Boutang.

“If we knew 100 percent that the border was going to be open before June, and we knew that the gathering restrictions were going to be gone by June then we could reasonably make plans to carry on. But we aren’t in that position. And with a potential 3^rd wave beginning, we can’t expect things to change in the short term. We were really out of options to wait any longer.”

Further, teams south of the border have been planning their seasons already and were looking for a commitment from the GFI as to the status of the event so that they could fill out their schedules.

The GFI even looked at holding a smaller event with just Canadian based teams but there wasn’t the kind of interest that would make it worthwhile.

“We also had to look at logistics of the event locally. Sure fans want to attend. But do the people in Grand Forks really want outsiders coming in with potential COVID 19.? Grand Forks has gotten away relatively unscathed with the pandemic, so we are cognizant of not wanting to invite potential problems from abroad here too.”

Boutang says ironically this year’s field could have been the strongest yet with summer collegiate teams from the east coast, California, and elsewhere that have never been to Grand Forks.

“We’ll be working hard to get these clubs committed for 2022 as soon as this fall when they start making plans for next season. I’m still excited about this event going forward and making sure that the citizens and ball fans in Grand Forks and area can see a quality product again next summer.”

For more information contact Steve Boutang at sboutang@shaw.ca or on cell at 250-919-4754.

For General Inquiries please contact GFI at (250) 442-8323 or gfi.ticketsandInfo@gmail.com.

For sponsorship, ball park fence sign, and program advertising opportunities please contact advertising.gfi@gmail.com or call 250.443.4239

GFI Team

Meet the hard working volunteers that make the tournament happen!

Steve Boutang

Tournament Chairperson

Hometown – Abbotsford BC
Steve is the Provincial Umpire Supervisor for Baseball BC which encompasses the BC Baseball Umpire Association. As a 35-year veteran umpire, Steve has appeared in 3 International tournaments as an umpire, 9 National Championships as umpire, and he has supervised 5 National championships.
This year marks the 15th successive year Steve will umpire in the Grand Forks International Tournament dating back to 2001 and he will surpass 200 games umpires in Grand Forks in 2019.
Off the field, Steve has worked as a Peace Officer with CBSA for the past 15 years serving in communities across the southern border.

Chris Hammett

Tournament - Vice Chairperson

Chris joined the army of GFI volunteers shortly after arriving in Grand Forks in 2004. As the official team photographer, she has attended every GFI since, providing both action and team photos for the following year’s program and GFI advertising material. Chris also sells the advertising for the program and is responsible for raising the necessary funds for the prize money through sponsorship and fence sign sales; She also looks after all GFI marketing. Chris became a committee member in 2016 and has been the treasurer for the past 3 years

Janice Strukoff

Director - Ticket Sales

Janice is semi-retired and has a life time love of baseball, and has been a GFI fan since 1975. She has volunteered at the GFI through-out the years while living in Vancouver. Janice returned home to Grand Forks in 2013, and is in her 5th year serving on the GFI Committee. She welcomes all the fans, teams and volunteers to the Grand Forks International for seven days of exciting baseball!

Rhonda Pauls

Director

Hometown - Abbotsford BC Rhonda has been an umpire in BC for the past 20 years, the last 11 of which have been in the Baseball Canada umpire program.
She has represented Canada at 4 international events since 2012, most recently at the 2019 Women’s Pan American Championships in Aguascaliente Mexico.
Within Canada Rhonda’s contributions go much further than the 6 National Championships she has attended as both a Supervisor and Umpire. She works tirelessly on Umpire Education as part of the Baseball Canada Instructor Development Committee, and as the President and Education Chair for the BC Baseball Umpires Association. As for her professional career, Rhonda has served as a Chair, Vice Chair, and Trustee of the Abbotsford School District Board of Education since 2011.

Christine-Anne Fisher

Director - Secretary

Christine-Anne has been watching baseball with her Grandma Chicken since she was born. Christine-Anne moved to Grand Forks in 2006 and started volunteering with the GFI in 2008 in the cash office. It was a great match - her love of the game and volunteering. In 2008, Christine-Anne became a board member and remained on the board until 2017. She then took a year off from the board but continued with volunteer work in the cash office. One of the most memorable moments for her was in 2010 when she got hit with a foul ball right in the face! But in the true meaning of volunteering, she came back and finished her shift after being released from the hospital!