POULSBO — Kitsap County might get an infusion of tourism dollars in 2012 if North Kitsap Babe Ruth plays its cards right. The baseball club might host the 2012 13-year-old Babe Ruth World Series, planned for August 2012 at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds in Bremerton.

The winner of the Babe Ruth League in North Kitsap will host the series in Bremerton.

Before that can happen, however, a newly formed Kitsap World Series Executive Board must come up with $45,000 to cover the franchise fee, which will pay for the teams’ travel expenses.

“We are going to be hitting the volunteer trail pretty hard now,” board Co-host President Russ Barker said.

A public meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Oct. 17 at The Zone Sportsplex, 21291 Urdahl Road NW, Poulsbo, to discuss the next phase of work and to recruit volunteers.

The executive board is seeking volunteers for a variety of responsibilities and expects to recruit more than 200, Barker said. To pay the franchise fee, the board and volunteers will host fundraisers and seek donations. The franchise fee is the minimum amount the board needs to raise and Barker expects to see $65,000-$80,000 by 2012. Money raised beyond the minimum amount will be used for enhancing the world series in Kitsap, Barker said.

“We are pretty confident that finding both volunteers and financial support will not be difficult,” Barker said. “Kitsap County is a pretty big baseball community.”

One team from each of the country’s eight regions will compete for a spot in the series.

The 2010 Babe Ruth World Series was held in Texas. The players and their families pumped $1 million into the local economy, Barker said.

“This is a win-win for everyone involved,” Barker said.

Events that draw people to Kitsap — like a recent table tennis tournament — do give a boon to the Kitsap economy, County Commissioner Josh Brown said. The world series tournament, on the other hand, will last 10 days and Brown said there is a lot of economic potential.

“It’s hard to tell how much money this will bring in for the area, but it won’t just affect Bremerton,” Brown said. “This is going to have a regional impact.”

Last spring, vice president and commissioner of the Babe Ruth World Series Robert Faherty checked the quality of the fields at the Fairgrounds.

The Bremerton Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for the care of the four fields and Director of Parks and Recreation Jim Dunwiddie said there were no glaring changes that need to be made before 2012.

The biggest improvement on the fields was replacing the base bags, Dunwiddie said.

“Our department got off pretty light for this event,” Dunwiddie said. “We don’t have any big financial obligations.”

The field will be shut down three or four weeks before the tournament, Faherty said. This will allow the grass to grow out and let volunteer workers make any last minute changes, he said.

“A field with healthy grass and maybe a little additional paint can really make a field pop out,” Faherty said.

The other challenge the department faces is parking. The first day of the Kitsap County Fair will be held during the championship world series game and the department will have to create additional parking, Dunwiddie said.

“I knew this was going to be a challenge, but I had no idea how much work was going to go into this,” Barker said.