In a three-week span this month, Estevan will host six different provincial ball tournaments – five for baseball and one in softball. Those tournaments will have a combined 58 teams entered.
That's a lot of ball. That's a lot of volunteers dedicating many hours to these events. That's a lot of players and visitors to our community. And that's a lot of money being invested into the local economy.
Many people might not realize the economic spinoff for hosting these tournaments. If there's at least a dozen players and two or three coaches on each team, that's 15 people or more. All of these individuals will likely come here with family members. Those numbers add up. It's not a stretch to expect 30-40 people per team.
These people are staying in our hotels, eating at our restaurants, filling up their vehicles at our service stations, and purchasing snacks and other items at our stores.
I know I sound like a broken record when I talk about events like these, but it's big money that wouldn't be there without these events. So, it's important for local residents to not only talk about wanting these events here, but showing how much they want them. It's very important for everyone to make a positive impression on the visitors.
The tournaments are also a great opportunity to celebrate the volunteers who help make sport happen.
Estevan Minor Softball used the opening ceremony of their event to recognize Jody Waloshin for all he has done for the sport in the Estevan area for more than 15 years. A lot of people from inside and outside the Estevan area already knew about Waloshin's contributions. But now even more people know because minor softball held the celebration with so many people in attendance.
Adding to the event was the announcement that diamonds would by named after Don Schroeder and Earl Minchin for their past contributions.
Minor ball saluted the 1997 Estevan bantam AAA team that won the provincial title and went to nationals in 1997. It's important to salute those who have had success in the past.
The ceremonies at the upcoming provincial championship will honour Jen Lozinsky and all she has done in the past, and all she continues to do for baseball in Estevan. Although a lot of people outside of Estevan know about Lozinsky's contributions, thanks to her work in making this year's provincial tournaments happen, it'll be nice to hear her efforts shared with a broader audience.
Walk through Cactus Park, and you'll see names mounted to their Wall of Fame, recognizing those who have made great contributions to the sport in Estevan.
It's also nice when these events have good crowds to cheer the athletes on. If you're around, and you haven't had a chance to watch these tournaments, I encourage you to do so. There's been some good ball played in Estevan over the past two weekends; more will be coming this weekend.
At the U18 level, these kids know their future likely isn't in the game. Many of them are going to be in their final year of minor ball. They're going to play hard, have fun and maybe cap their minor ball careers with a provincial championship.
Many of them have been playing baseball in some form since they were five years old. Those in their final season likely just graduated high school. They have lots of options ahead of them in the future, but this provincial tournament will be their last shot at team success at the youth level; it might be the last competitive game of baseball they ever play.
The U13s are still at that point in which sport should be more about fun, having great experiences, making memories and learning the game, rather than wins and losses, but they're still going to want to bring home a provincial title.
Estevan has proven itself to be a great host of both baseball and softball events at the provincial level, and at the Western Canadian level in baseball. We have the facilities, the volunteer base and the community support to make these events great.
Teams across Saskatchewan and Western Canada know that when they come to Estevan for a tournament, they're lucky to be here.
And when we have events like these here, the community is a winner.
