Despite the Trail All stars coming up short on the ball field, the 2012 B.C. Little League championships was indeed a victory for the community of Trail.
Events like the B.C. Little League Championship don’t get off the ground without a dedicated core of volunteers. The true test of whether an event soars to success or crashes and burns often depends on the committee’s ability to recruit more volunteers.
The Host committee, with co-chairs Shannon Morris Ballarin and Russ Green, mobilized a small army of happy helpers that put in hours of work from selling 50/50 tickets, to working the concession, grounds keeping or score keeping.
“It was a beautiful week,” said Green. “The weather cooperated . . . lots of people came out, lots of people that use to play came out. It was a nice turn out. We had lots of volunteers, you know - more hands make light work.”
Local businesses, the City of Trail, and a variety of service clubs contributed over $200,000 in funds and the host committee, with other volunteers, devoted hundreds of hours of work into getting the field prepared, and the event on track.
The success of the recent event bodes well as Trail looks to host the 9-10 B.C. Little League provincials in 2014 and possibly a Canadian Championship down the road.
“I’m pretty sure the B.C. Little League president has seen and the other associations that were here have seen that we’re capable of holding a provincial tournament, and I’m pretty sure they’ve seen the support we’ve had from the businesses, the community, and the fan support, that we’re capable of holding a national event too,” added Green.