The 2020 Virtual Tournament

The 2020 Virtual Tournament

The 36th annual Mike Reid Memorial Softball Tournament was like nothing we had ever seen. With the covid-19 pandemic, we could not hold our regular 4-day tournament. Sure, we could have played the tournament but what about the thousands of fans and visitors? With the pandemic, get-togethers like our tournament were just not possible.

We still needed to raise money for the MacKay Centre School, so we decided to a hold a virtual tournament. Yes, a random tournament where fans could watch online in the comfort of their basement, living room or kitchen. A tournament where the luckiest team would win and not the strongest team!

We were sceptical at first, not knowing if we could get enough teams for a tournament. In the end, we had many of the regular teams who have played year after year, plus many other teams entering just wanting to get in on the action, do a good thing, make a donation and help the cause.

The format of the tournament was the same as previous tournaments with the draw for teams on Monday, followed by the tournament, Thursday to Sunday. The only difference was it was all virtual and broadcast on Facebook Live. The Monday draw for teams was done at Empire Park and the Thursday to Sunday Facebook Live broadcasts were done from Wade and Brenda's backyard.

In the year of covid-19, you all came through and better than anyone expected! A huge thank-you to the many sponsors, the teams and people who donated, our volunteers and everyone who got in on the action!