The players and coaches have games under their belts, organizers have had time to prepare, and Quesnel is almost ready to throw the first pitch of their first home tournaments of 2023.
Tournament coordinator Jen Hydamacka, treasurer Selena Mackenzie and president Wendy Richardson are spearheading the effort to host the introductory tournaments for this season. Hydamacka said the one for younger kids started as a year-end tournament and has morphed into an invitational event.
“We have teams coming from Merritt, Cache Creek, Terrace and Prince George,” Hydamacka said. “It will be a fundraising tournament and all proceeds from bat draws and 50/50 tickets will be donated to a Victoria-based Canadian charity called Buddy Check for Jesse.”
This charity was created in 2018 inspired by Jesse Short Gershman, a youth who committed suicide in 2014.
“His dad started the charity to help coaches bring mental health awareness to their players,” said Hydamacka. “We want to have this tournament to help raise awareness for this charity and to try and bring a big tournament back to Quesnel as we haven’t had one in a long time. We plan on doing an invitational every year and donating any proceeds to some sort of charity for kids.”
The tournament has U11, U13 and U15 teams coming which includes some boys teams. The tournament starts at 9 a.m. on June 17 at West Fraser Timber Park.
In a second gathering of softball teams in Quesnel, the U16 age division will try to carry on its winning ways. This past weekend in Prince George, Quesnel Team Red ended up winning gold, while Quesnel Team Blue won silver. Yes, the two entries from the Heart of Gold ended up meeting in the finals.
They will be tested this coming weekend with 13 other teams in their own home tournament.
The tournament’s main sponsors are: Parallel Welding, Hindsight Mechanical, Andres Electronics, Regency Chrysler, Shoppers Drug Mart, Mr. Mikes, Spa Rivier, Petro Canada, Starbucks, Cariboo Water, Granville’s Coffee.
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