With the start of the Grand Forks International (GFI) Baseball Tournament slowly creeping up, the field has been finalized and there will be an international flavour.

The usual teams from the U.S. and Canada will be in attendance of course but so will Team Pakistan and Team Russia.

City Councillor Mike Wirischagin, who is also the GFI’s city council liaison and the director of advertising, marketing and promotions, says that it isn’t the first time organizers have booked Russia for the tournament.

According to the official program, the last time the team was in Grand Forks was in 2002 for the World Baseball Challenge.

“There’s an organizing committee that just looks at teams, and there were separate individuals who worked specifically on trying to get Russia here,” Wirischagin said.

“They’ve been here before, so the connections were here already. They came once, they really enjoyed it and now they’re back.”

The Russian national team has seen success in the past, taking silver in the European Championships in 2001 and will look to better that mark for the 2012 championship.

In order to achieve that, Russia will need to play some meaningful games and it will do that with the Czech Republic’s Baseball Week, which takes place between July 12 and 18 in Prague and the Russian National Championships and the GFI.

The Russia team entry in the tournament’s official website says that the team plans to be performing optimally for the GFI but will that translate into success?

“The (last time) they came, they certainly didn’t win the tournament but, then again, Russia isn’t exactly a hotbed of baseball,” Wirischagin said.

“From what I understand, Russian baseball is up and coming and now it’s got a few years behind it and I believe we’ll get a better caliber of baseball then it was back then.”

Twelve teams will take part in this year’s event and there are the regulars in attendance like the Lewiston Idaho Truckers.

International teams not only offer a change of pace from the domestic North American teams, they give organizers more to work with and bring people and money according to Wirischagin.

“If you get a Pakistan or a Russia, you’ve opened up the doors and people will take you more seriously,” he said.

“You can start advertising in a broader scope because people in Grand Forks, they know Seattle, they know San Diego and they know Lewiston. They know they’re going to come, but people are use to them.”

He says the addition of Pakistan and Russia allows organizers to advertise in the Kootenays, Okanagan and Spokane.

“You have about half a million people within two and a half hours of Grand Forks, now you have the ability to tap into a market that you otherwise would not have been able to.”

Wirischagin says that barring unforeseen circumstances, the 12 teams are set but doesn’t rule out more international teams at future tournaments.

“We’re always looking for new and exciting things,” he said.