Ball tournament brings teams, volunteers together in Acadia Valley
By Jena Skappak
The Acadia Valley Rec Club was proud to host a U13 baseball tournament on the weekend of May 30.
With the forecast calling for significant rain on Sunday, we adjusted the schedule and started games Friday evening, allowing the tournament to wrap up successfully on Saturday night before the much-needed rain arrived.
U13 League team: back row, from left, Coach - Mike Yake, Halen Blair, Keller Tye, Corbin Skappak, Kieran Yake ,Coach - Fraser Olsen. Front row, Lincoln Layton, Michael Sissons, Jake Tateson, Winston Smith, Cooper Norris. (Missing, Parker Fraser).
Oyen Provincial team: back row, from left, Hester Muller (Coach), Jena Skappak (Manager), Phil Jarvis (Coach). Middle row, Coach - Landon Olsen, Jayden Smith, Bennet Skappak, Ryder Makranoff, Colby Berg, Benji Muller Front row, William Kuhn, Weston Olsen, Ayden Jarvis, Robbie Hok, Kane Parker (missing Cruz Evens).
We welcomed six teams to the tournament and even had five more on the waitlist. We were both surprised and excited by the incredible interest from teams wanting to visit our small community. It truly shows that Acadia Valley is a great place to play ball.
One thing that never changes is the way our community comes together to support local events. Every player received a swag bag filled with great goodies, and we organized fun team-building games during the day to give the kids a chance to work together and have some fun.
Every team went home with a bucket of prizes for participating, while the winning team, the Leader Expos, took home the grand prize bucket. None of these prizes would have been possible without the generous donations from our local clubs and businesses from Oyen, Acadia Valley, Medicine Hat and Kindersley.
Our raffle table was also a huge success, filled with many donated items. That support helped make the event even more special.
The tournament featured both our U13 Oyen League and provincial teams, along with teams from Kerrobert, Leader, Hanna and Lloydminster.
The MD of Acadia Valley workers, community members and local kids helped prepare the ball diamonds before the tournament. The fields looked fantastic. Our grounds crew volunteers worked tirelessly throughout the weekend to keep the diamonds in top condition after every game.
Our plate umpires, Wyatt and Blake Makranoff, umpired every game all weekend with very little rest. Our base umpires, Kenton Peers, Ava Kuhn, Neveah Jarvis and Corbin Skappak, stepped up and helped make the tournament a success.
Wonona Makranoff put in countless hours organizing the event and helping everything run smoothly. I could not have organized this without her. Amber Stolz of MM Photography stopped by Friday evening to capture some fantastic action shots of the players.
The AV Rec Club operated the beer gardens and assisted with the raffle table throughout the weekend.
Overall, the tournament was a tremendous success. We were able to complete all the games before the rain arrived, and more importantly, we saw another example of what makes this community so special.
The support from our volunteers, businesses, clubs and residents never ceases to amaze us. Once again, Acadia Valley came together to make something great happen. So many people played a part in making this weekend such a memorable success.