Even though he's moving to Victoria to take a job in baseball, Jim Swanson is confident the pieces are in place for the World Baseball Challenge to continue stepping to the plate in Prince George.
Swanson, co-chair of WBC tournaments in 2009, 2011 and 2013, has been named vice-president and general manager of the Victoria HarbourCats and will start his new duties on Dec. 2.
At a WBC meeting in late October, Swanson stepped down as co-chair and so did Shawn Rice. A new executive was formed and Swanson said that bodes well for the future of the event.
"The tournament is in the black and it's in a position to move forward," he said.
"It's time for someone else [to take over]. We've done basically all the work in those areas going back to 2007 and change is a good thing."
The new WBC co-chairs are Shelly Niemi and Rick Pattie. Yvonne Springall is serving as treasurer and Brenda Laviolette is the secretary. The executive is rounded out by Dan Gutwillinger.
Niemi and Pattie couldn't be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Swanson, 45, said he will offer his services to help keep the WBC lineup strong.
"The big thing I can still do is provide the contacts with all the international teams and I would still love to work that way with the committee," he said. "It's up to the executive to continue to involve me and I'd be glad to do it."
The most recent World Baseball Challenge was held in August at Citizen Field. The tournament featured teams from Canada, the United States, Chinese Taipei, Cuba and Japan. In the championship game, the Ciego de Avila Tigres of Cuba beat JX-Eneos of Japan 14-4.
As well as its entertainment value, the WBC serves as an economic engine for the city. Organizers have estimated an economic spin-off of more than $6 million to date.
Swanson, former sports editor at The Citizen, had most recently been working for Telus. He has a background in professional baseball as an administrator and general manager.
The HarbourCats compete in the 12-team West Coast League, a developmental league for top college players who have designs on pro careers. Victoria is in a division with the Bellingham Bells, Kitsap BlueJackets of Bremerton, Wash., and the Cowlitz Black Bears of Kelso/Longview, Wash.
The 54-game regular season starts in early June.
