It was an fun but emotional weekend for Humboldt Strong, the Humboldt based slo-pitch team, as they travel to Airdrie to compete in the StrazStrong tournament to honour Ryan Straschnitzki.
Thirty-two teams took part in the first annual tournament with all fees going to Ryan and his family.
The 2017-2018 Humboldt Bronco was paralyzed after the Broncos bus crash and organizer Harvey Ruffer wanted to do something to help out.
Ruffer runs some tournaments in Airdrie and thought this would be a great way of helping out Ryan and his family.
“Tragedy seems to bring people together,” he says.
Members of the Straschnitzki family also took part from time to time, with some joining the batting lineup. This was a highlight of the tournament for Rufffer, as well as Dawson Atamanchuk, who at one point, hit the ball and ran the bases while having Ryan on FaceTime.
Chris Stadnyk got the team together to participate in the tournament.
With everyone else helping the community in some way, Stadnyk says this was their turn to help out.
The team went undefeated in the round robin which led them to the playoff round. There they faced their first loss of the tournament during the quarter-final against Medicine Hat, who they would eventually beat in the final to take the Division
A win.
The quarter-final game also saw the team face a different kind of loss when their pitcher took a line drive to the face and could not play the rest of the tournament.
Other teams stepped up to offer replacements for the remaining games, says Stadnyk.
The support for the team was unreal with Ryan’s parents cheering them on in the final, which was a little extra motivation for their team to win.
While it was a sweet victory, Stadnyk says they went to the tournament with more than just winning on their minds.
There were two reasons for going to Airdrie all together, says Stadnyk. One was to play the sport they love while also having the chance to visit Ryan in the hospital.
They team even wore their championship shirts on their visit to tell him that everyone was thinking about him and supporting him back home.
Ruffer says that having a Humboldt team down to play, as well as the support they received from local businesses made the tournament special.
The team is invited back for next year to defend their championship when Ruffer and his crew plan the second annual StrazStrong tournament.
