With only one other wiffle ball tournament in the entire province of Saskatchewan, the organizers of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Battlefords Wiffle Weekend are filling the need for those who want to be involved in a fundraising tournament.
“There’s one other tournament in Martensville and they have a lengthy waiting list for people who want to take part in it,” Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Battlefords program coordinator Renee Sperling said.
“Slo-pitch is a big deal here in the Battlefords so we wanted to do something here locally as a fundraising event that would be a good tune-up for that season, without having to worry about the weather.”
For the second year in a row, Big Brothers and Big Sisters hosted the event at the Battleford Arena, which saw six teams battling it out over the course of Saturday and Sunday.
“The weather’s usually pretty unpredictable at this time of year,” Sperling said. “You never know when it’s going to rain or snow around here.
“We’ve had it inside for the last two years and it’s turned out to be a pretty good fit, especially on Sunday when the rain came through.”
The final totals from this year’s tournament were still be tabulated as of press time, but Sperling expected the final funds to be somewhere between $5,000 and $6,000.
“That’s double what we raised at last year’s tournament, so we’re pretty excited about that,” Sperling said.
“The event’s getting bigger and better each year with more people coming out to play for the first time and to see what’s going on at the arena. There were a few people who had no idea what wiffle ball was, but now after seeing it they are interested in getting a team together for next year’s tournament.”
The funds raised over the weekend will go towards helping to offset the costs for programs that the Big Brothers and Big Sisters are involved with.
“We offer swim passes and field house passes along with other activities in the community, so we will put some of the money towards that to allow families to access those facilities,” Sperling said.
“We’ll also use the money for school programs and programs with other youth organizations in the city. We’re looking at having a learn to skateboard program along with other programs during the summer months. As well, with so many kids trying our wiffle ball at the tournament this weekend, that’s another program we might start up here in the next few months.”
