Softball tourney raises money for Wounded Warrior Project

With U.S. servicemen and women having been continuously deployed in dangerous places around the world since the days following Sept. 11, 2001, it's a sad reality that some of those charged with defending our republic have not come home as whole as when they left.

Since its formation in 2003, the Wounded Warrior Project has dedicated itself to meeting the needs of those injured service members in a multitude of creative ways. The stated mission of WWP is to "foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation's history."

With that worthy cause in mind, two local veterans of the U.S. Marine Corps – Whitney Wolff and Brandon Whatley – decided to do a fundraiser. While at a softball tournament in Whatley's home state of Alabama, the idea came to them to hold a softball tournament in Sidney to benefit WWP.

As a result, the first "Helping Heroes Softball Tournament" was held at the Legion Park fields in Sidney this past Saturday. With 10 teams paying a $200 entry fee, Wolff and Whatley raised more than $2,000 to benefit wounded warriors. The fun began about 9 a.m. and went until late afternoon before the championship team was decided.

Besides the entry fees, several people donated money to the tournament without even fielding a team. Additionally, they had offers from several people to set up a concession stand that offered all manner of light fare including breakfast burritos, sloppy joes, hotdogs, pizza, soft drinks and plenty of water. The organizers also sold T-shirts that many players and spectators purchased throughout the day.

"We only had about a three-week time span to organize it and get everything together," said Wolff. "It took a lot of planning, but the community was so wonderful. I mentioned it to a few people at first. Then we put it on the radio and Facebook and it really took off from there."

The Cheyenne County Community Center was an invaluable help to making the event a reality, Wolff added.

With the generated publicity, the tournament not only attracted several teams from Sidney, there were also teams from Lincoln, Kimball and Sterling, Colo. In fact, the winning team was "In a Scoring Position" from Lincoln. The team named, "Who Cares" from Sterling, was the runner-up.

"This tournament was really about having fun for a good cause, but it was competitive too," Wolff said. "While there were a few heated moments, everyone said it was a great time and they all said they want to come back next year. I didn't hear a single negative remark all day."

While WWP was the beneficiary of the debut tournament, Wolff and Whatley hope to find other worthy veteran causes to benefit in the future.

"This was really a trial run this year since we've never organized a softball tournament before," Wolff said. "Next year, we hope it will be even better. Again, we'll hope to have the tournament sometime just after the Fourth of July because that's a day that really hits close to home for veterans.

"You know, there's a reason we all join the military. It's to protect this country and the freedoms we all enjoy every day, and that makes the Fourth a very special day for all of us," Wolff added.