KidSport’s St. Albert chapter wants the boys – and girls – of summer to come out to play ball for a weekend of fun. It’s the group’s annual charity slo-pitch tournament, something that should combine the best of sports and community supports all at the same time.
“It’s going to be really good ball. There’s lots of young guys and girls around and lots of good slo-pitch. It will be fun to watch,” encouraged Klayton Deputan, the group’s organizer.
The event flew a bit under the radar last year as the chapter was still in the very early stages of formalizing itself. It also suffered from a bad case of second-day-cancellation-due-to-rainy-weather-itis. Deputan has his fingers crossed that the sky will be sunny and blue for this year’s edition.
Organizers already consider the event a bona fide success as they’ve received registrations for more than 20 teams, filling up the event. Deputan still hopes the public comes out to support the players and the cause as there will surely be enough entertainment for everyone.
Each team has minimums of seven men and three women. The games are NSA sanctioned with carded umpires.
The event will also include a silent auction, 50/50 raffle draw, a home run derby, and Saturday evening entertainment with a live performance by DRT Band.
Edmonton Oilers goalie prospect Tyler Bunz started the event last year because he thinks “every kid deserves to play the sport that they love, whether they have the money for it or not. Every kid deserves the chance to do something special.”
He’s also thrilled that the event has grown in popularity.
“We had about nine or 10 teams at bat last year. I didn’t expect it to be this big. I was hoping for about 14, 15, 16 … it’s skyrocketed. It’s pretty amazing.”
Bunz, who played last season with the Stockton Thunder of the East Coast Hockey League, will also be in the action. He said there will be a few teams filled with buddies from his WHL days and other NHL prospects turning out too.
After several months of struggling to build up the coffers, the KidSport chapter is still ramping up support and getting closer to being able to offer sports funding to local youths. The group got a healthy shot in the arm with a cheque for $2,500 from the St. Albert Progress Club in early May. On the last weekend of last month, it got another boost from the Road Rage Street Hockey Tournament.
Deputan said that they are getting ever closer to securing their purse so that KidSport can commence offering financial assistance in this city come September.
The two-day tournament takes place Saturday and Sunday, June 15 and 16 at the Meadowview Ball Diamonds.
For more information or to register, contact Tyler Bunz at [email protected].
For more information, visit www.kidsport.ab.ca or via e-mail at [email protected].
