CENTRE WELLINGTON – In memoriam of longtime volunteer with Centre Wellington Softball, the annual Jeanne Dalton Charity 3-Pitch Tournament makes its way to the Elora ball diamonds later this month.
CW Softball board of directors president, Corey Sanders, said the event is organized to recognize the countless hours of work volunteers have put into the club, inspired by the incredible effort of the late Jeanne Dalton who passed away in 2011.
The charity tournament will be donating net proceeds to the Children’s Foundation of Guelph & Wellington which aligns with CW Softball’s values of supporting youth through sports programming and providing assistance to those in-need.
For example the Children Foundation’s Free to Grow Program funds “recreational and life-skill opportunities such as sports, arts, camps, driver’s education training and leadership development.”
Sanders said any kind of sport is greatly beneficial to youth development; “A day at the diamond is better than a day in front of a screen with videogames any day of the week,” he said.
From left to right, Julie Charbonneau, Corey Sanders and Joop Feenstra | Mik Horvath
The tournament begins with a round robin on Friday, Sept. 25 and runs into the Saturday, Sept. 26; Sunday is when the playoffs will see the best of the 14-player teams compete for top honours.
Team registration is open until September 11, costing $550 per team and includes a meal voucher for La Reina who will be donating a portion of their sales to the charity as well.
Junior convener Joop Feenstra said the event will be 19+ due to the sale of alcohol, though CW Softball is hoping the weekend atmosphere will ensure the community has fun while fundraising for a good cause.
Julie Charbonneau, CW Softball’s secretary and webmaster, said each team requires at least three women, but Charbonneau recommends at least four female athletes to account for any unexpected absence.
Supporting youth and volunteers is important to CW Softball because they have noticed an increasing demand for affordable sports programming.
Charbonneau said because of the low cost the softball club has been seeing steady growth in Centre Wellington.
She said having a regular crew of volunteers is one of the ways CW Softball is able to keep costs down.
CW Softball’s board of directors sees annual change, but Sanders said this year was a “particularly substantial change” as many long-time members retired from the board.
He said despite the change they want to let the growing community know CW Softball cares deeply about volunteering and bringing a top-quality sports program to the area, especially for kids.
Teams can register for the tournament on CW Softball’s website.
