For the last four years, the Battleford Arena has been host to the sounds of bats hitting balls instead of the familiar tones of skates gliding along the ice and pucks being fire on net.
Saturday and Sunday saw the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Battlefords play host to their fourth annual Wiffle Weekend tournament, which saw six teams battle it out for the golden bat trophy, in addition to raising funds for the local organization.
“Everyone’s pretty tired after the running the bases for the last two days,” Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Battlefords program co-ordinator Renee Sperling said.
“The amount of energy that we saw this weekend was really impressive. We have people that are coming out to play wiffle ball for the first time and we also have some familiar faces that have been here for the last couple of years. Those that are returning are really excited to see how much the tournament has grown and how much fun everyone is having. Obviously our main goal is to raise funds, but we also want to make sure everyone is having a great time.”
The final funds that were raised from the tournament were still being finalized as of press time, though Sperling believes they will double the $5,000 that was brought in a year ago.
“We had more people participating this year and a lot more families taking part in the weekend, so I think that played a part in the success,” Sperling said.
“The growth we’ve had has been pretty steady since we started in 2015. Most people that are involved in the tournament play slo-pitch on a regular basis in town, but now we see more kids wanting to take part and we do things to make sure that it’s a family friendly experience.”
Another drawing point for competitors is that the tournament takes place indoors and players don’t have to battle the elements along the way.
“It was a great weekend weather wise this year, but in the past we’ve had to deal with rain and snow,” Sperling said.
“It stays pretty cool here in the arena, so that was an added bonus for Sunday when it was really hot outside.”
Wiffles In Training took home the title for a second straight year with a win over the W&B team.
The funds that are raised from the tournament will stay in the area as it will be used for programs that are offered by Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Battlefords.
“One of the things that we do is work on having unique activities for our matches to be involved with that a good portion of our families might not be able to take part in,” Sperling said.
“We are also looking at expanding our in-school mentoring program. It operates in several communities already, but we want to do more of that here in the Battlefords.”
