In the 1980s, Lethbridge, Alta., was home to several dominant slo-pitch and softball teams that went on to win national titles.
That success launched a generational love of the games in southern Alberta for both recreational athletes and more competitive players.
“For those that don’t know, the legacy of slo-pitch in Lethbridge and southern Alberta goes back almost 50 years and I don’t know that everyone realizes how successful the city has been in the past, going back to the ’80s, but also to present day,” said Kevin Chubb, former coach and manager for the Lethbridge Dodgers and Alberta Cardinals.
That 1980s dominance wasn’t a fluke, either, as multiple Lethbridge-based teams were victorious at the national level.
“Lethbridge actually won four championships in a row between the Schwartz Angels, Great West and the Super Sam’s teams. In 1989, the women’s teams got in the mix and they also won two national championships in 1989 and 1991. That was the women’s Lethbridge Val Matteotti’s Suntana’s,” said Chubb.
While a smaller city like Lethbridge winning so many titles across Canada may be a bit surprising, Chubb says it’s actually quite easy to explain.
“Baseball. Almost every elite slo-pitch player has a baseball background and when you look at Lethbridge and southern Alberta, you’ve got the Vauxhall Baseball Academy, the Prairie Baseball Academy, you have Lethbridge Little Leagues, you have other academies, you have American Legion, you’ve got Bulls Baseball.
“There are others that I’m not even including… I can not stress that enough that our success in the past has been because of baseball players giving slo-pitch a chance.”
The sport is huge in Lethbridge as of 2025, with dozens of teams spread across multiple leagues competing in the sport every summer evening.
“We have 11 diamonds down here (in Softball Valley) and they’re full every night. We usually get about 250 people down here,” said Hank Stoffer, facility manager at Lethbridge’s Softball Valley.
He says the level of play in slo-pitch tournaments like the 2025 Men’s and Women’s Softball Alberta Provincial Championships, which will be hosted at Softball Valley this weekend, is better than most people expect.
“It’s going to be some of the best ball you’re going to see. The winners of these will get to go play for the Canadian Championships and that’s a pretty high-level softball…. There’s the recreational aspect of slo-pitch that’s played down here, but there’s also some very, very high level that’s here that people should come watch. I think they’d be suitably impressed,” said Stoffer.
Off the field, events like the 2018 Canadian Slo-Pitch Championships, also hosted in Lethbridge, are major money-makers for the city.
“In 2018, it was estimated that we brought in $3.5 million when we hosted the national championship here for that week. So, an event like (the provincial championships) could probably look to be $250,000-$300,000 throughout the city, in the restaurants, in the hotels, general spending.”
The tournament runs from July 11-13 and, on the men’s side, features eight teams. These include Evolution Sports Cardinals, Hype, Gators, AEG Evolution Sports Trappers, Cruisin Auto Astros, Wasted Potential, Faded and The Valley.
Meanwhile, 10 teams will compete on the women’s side. These include the Valley Vixens, Black Widows, Aftermath, Squad, Calahoo Erins, Two Guys Pizza Aces, Animal Kingdom, Laces, Evolution Sports Carnage and Vengeance.
Both Chubb and Stoffer say they are eager to see the sport continue to grow, but that often means baseball players need to truly give the sport a chance. They say this tournament and the exposure it provides for the sport could help more athletes take part in the next step of the everlasting legacy of slo-pitch in Lethbridge.