Teams get out their bats, gloves for MDA

COLDWATER - It's summer time, and that means softball has returned to Coldwater Memorial Field.

Forty men's teams and 20 women's teams are competing in the 40th annual Muscular Dystrophy Association Softball Tournament that began on Wednesday and concludes on Sunday.   

What has become known as the world's largest softball tournament of its kind started in 1979 when a group of guys wanted something fun to do to pass the time, tournament committee chairwoman Judy Billerman recalled.

Six teams competed in the inaugural tournament. Then so many teams signed up to compete the second year that organizers decided to make it a charity event and chose to support the MDA, she said.

More than $7,300 was raised to support the MDA in 1980. Last year's donation of $34,000 makes the overall total $1.252 million and committee members hope to reach $1.5 million in the coming years.

The double-elimination tournament has become so popular organizers have a drawing to decide who gets to compete. The rest are placed on a waiting list, Billerman said.

"It's the biggest tournament of the year," she said. "That's not my opinion, that's the player's opinion.

Having been a tournament committee member for 39 years, she can't imagine the event taking place at any location other than Memorial Park.

"It's always been played here," she said. "Now, it's the only place that can accommodate this many teams. Players compete on all five diamonds."

Participants don't compete for cash, committee member Linus Brunswick stressed. Teams compete to support a good cause and for bragging rights.

"They get a T-shirt, a team plaque and the honor and pride that they won. Businesses are proud to hang that plaque in their business," he added.

Word has spread to far-away places, Billerman said, as players have traveled from Canada to compete since 1992.

Adrienne Ramsay said she has driven from her home in Ontario, Canada, four hours away for the past 25 years.

Ramsay said she has made lots of friend through the tournament and enjoys coming back every year to compete.

Playing against Ramsay and the Canadian Truckers on Friday night, Kelley Hathaway has also been competing for many years on the Pit Stop team, she said as she cheered on her teammate who had scored a run.

"It's the biggest tournament of the year. We like to come out here to support the cause to help raise money to find a cure and help kids," she added.

MDA examines causes, symptoms and care options for those with neuromuscular diseases. The association is almost entirely funded through individual individual and corporate contributions. Seventy-seven cents of every dollar goes directly to research, services and education.

Billerman said she hopes the tournament will be played every year until a cure for muscular dystrophy is found. Muscular dystrophy is a group of diseases that result in progressive weakness and muscle mass due to genetic mutations, according to the Mayo Clinic.