Dual tournaments a good idea in the future

It was half a joke, half serious back in the early spring when I commented upon seeing Holden’s desire to host a tournament on their Farmer’s Day, the same day Bardo has their long-running now one-day event.

But it kind of makes sense if you think about it.

Stephen Hrbac might have been a little late on making the request, but I liked his thinking. Have the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers in the Bardo Day (Leduc, Camrose, Armena and Bardo) face off against the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers of the Holden round robin (Cold Lake, Cadogan and Holden) on Sunday in Holden.

Food for thought on making it a reality next year. I could see three-game guaranteed weekend with the last games on Sunday taking place at a perfect 1 p.m.

But this got me thinking. This might be the future of PBL tournaments.

With the Roadrunners tournament not gaining enough interest in early June, could we see a similar format for a co-hosted Armena/Camrose tournament some day? It would also cut down on diamond costs and reduce the need for a Friday night game perhaps?

Given the lack of amenities in some of our locations, it might make perfect sense to team up with a larger centre and as well, have multiple diamonds so games don’t last until 7 p.m. on a Sunday.

The other thing I’d like some teams to consider would be hosting AA provincials some day. We’ve seen them held in towns like Oyen and Legal. There’s no reason a Bardo, Ryley, Holden or Armena couldn’t do the same and bring the game back to its true grassroots.

Of course, there may be some work to bring it up to Baseball Alberta specs, but would co-hosting be the answer? Could hosting such an event bring interest in our communities to continue investment in the ball fields?

Food for thought. And don’t forget, keep that second Saturday AND Sunday booked off for a possible full weekend tournament in Holden and Bardo – perhaps?

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Jason Buzzell