While Thunder Bay, Canada has a strong tradition of hosting WBSC tournaments, including the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup Finals 2024 presented by CARNEXT from 28 July to 3 August, it also has a very rich geographic and demographic history .
A city in the Ontario Province of Canada, Thunder Bay has a population of approximately 109,000 (123,258 in the Metropolitan area), making it the most populous municipality in northwestern Ontario and the second (after Greater Sudbury) in northern Ontario.
Thunder Bay is located on Lake Superior, only 50 kms (31 miles) from the Pigeon River border crossing to the United States. The closest USA city is Duluth, Minnesota, which is 314 kms (194 miles) away.
The closest city in Ontario is Sault Ste. Marie (690 kms or 428 miles), while Winnipeg, Manitoba, is 685 kms (425 miles) away.
The first European settlement in the region was in 1683 when the French established a fur trading post. However, the Anishinaabe indigenous people, including the Ojibwa, inhabited the area before.
The city we know as Thunder Bay was formed by merging Fort William and Port Arthur. Thunder Bay takes its name from the bay at the head of Lake Superior, which the French named Baie du Tonnerre (Bay of Thunder).
Today, Thunder Bay is renowned for its knowledge-based economy and is the site of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute.
The 244-square-kilometre (94-square-mile) Sleeping Giant Provincial Park is the area's main tourist attraction. It is located on the Sibley Peninsula, which projects into Lake Superior, about 82 kms (50 miles) east of Thunder Bay.
Thunder Bay's Port Arthur Stadium will host all the games of the IX Women's Baseball World Cup Finals presented by CARNEXT.
It opened on July 14, 1951 and has been used for baseball, football and soccer as well as a concert facility. Today, it is home to the Thunder Bay Border Cats of the Northwoods League, a 26-team collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. From 1993 to 1998, the stadium was also home to the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks of the Northern League, a professional independent league.
The complete stadium capacity stands at 3,300.
The Port Arthur Stadium is positioned on the traditional land of the Anishinaabe people. The Border Cats stated through their official website that they "respectfully acknowledge that the lands on which we live, work and play are traditional lands, and we extend our appreciation for this opportunity."
