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| Rsummers
January 31, 2008
6:05:01 PM
Entry #: 2576529
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What: 2nd Annual Swinging Bunt Tournament to benefit St. Jude Children’s Hospital
When: April 25th – 26th, 2008
Where: Champion Fields – Normal, IL
Web Site: www.swingingbunt.org
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!!!!!!!!!!
Guys were asking me about Swinging Bunt this weekend so I figured now was as good as time as any to post this.
Last year’s inaugural event was a huge success (raising $3,500 for St. Jude) so we are doing it again and plan on it being bigger and better. Last year we had 12 full squads competing and we’re hoping to expand that to at least 16 teams this year.
Format: The tournament itself will again be a Draft Style Tournament where each player signs up as an individual. Each team will play in round robin pool qualifiers and then be placed into a single elimination seeded bracket. This results in at least a 4 game minimum for each team. That could be expanded to a 5 game minimum depending on the amount of teams involved.
Cost: We’re keeping the exact same $20 registration fee from last year. That cost will get you registered in the event, a door prize entry, and a tournament t-shirt featuring the logo above.
Party: Much like last year’s event, we will be having a pre-tournament fundraiser party the night before the tournament (April 25th). Location has yet to be determined. The party will allow everyone to meet up and get to know each other. It will also feature raffle prizes like last year. Expect to see lots of signed sports memorabilia, softball gear, and gift baskets from sponsors.
Airport: I've had some people ask about this and the nearest airport is actually here in town in Bloomington (Central Illinois Regional - BMI). It flies AirTran and is just across town from the softball complex and a short drive to the party location. There are also a lot of new hotels in the area.
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Here is where I get to announce some of the things that will be different this year. (There may be even more new things added as we go along and they'll be announced here)
Draft – This year the draft will be completed and the team rosters posted the week prior to the tournament. This way, there shouldn’t be anyone who doesn’t know what team they are on or when they play.
Competitions – Last year we had a “Recruitment Challenge” that was won by Tony Brucker. We will be continuing with that challenge this year. Be aware that if you played last year and were recruited by someone, you aren’t recruited this year so go out and recruit your own people!
We are also having a new “Fundraising Challenge” this year. Each player is urged to solicit donations to St. Jude from their friends, family, co-workers, teammates, etc. Each player will collect their own donations and bring them to the tournament Saturday morning in a sealed envelope with their name on it. Our volunteers will collect the envelopes and determine the winner. The winner will then receive a NIW bat!!
All-Tournament Team – This year we will be introducing an All-Tournament Team. This will be voted on by the players. After each game, each team will choose an offensive and defensive MVP from the other team. These votes will be tabulated and each member of the 10 player All-Tournament Team will receive a prize.
Shirt Options – We’re working with ThemShirts for our shirts this year and Josh is providing us with some options if people don’t want just another t-shirt. So when registration opens up we will be offering up the option of a long sleeve t-shirt or a hoodie with the Swinging Bunt logo at an additional cost. So if you want one of those instead of the t-shirt, you’ll be able to choose that when you register. I don’t know the exact cost just yet.
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Hopefully everyone had a great time last year and is excited about doing this all over again in the Spring. We learned a heck of a lot last year and I think we are already well on our way to making the second installment a great event!! So mark your calendars now and put in for time off from work so you won’t have an excuse to miss a great time!
Feel free to use this thread to ask questions.
Me and a couple guys are going if anyone else is interested..let me know
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