Kickball for a cause

Abbey Nutter, The Lebanon Democrat, Tenn.
·2 min read

Apr. 3—Sign-ups are now open for the inaugural Wilson County Firefighters Kickball Tournament.

"We've done a softball tournament before that had great success, but unfortunately the softball fields aren't available for us anymore," Wilson County Firefighters Association President Colton Young said. "So, we changed the concept and decided to do a kickball tournament."

The first 10 teams to sign up will compete in the tournament in Watertown at Three Forks Park on June 8. Each team of 10-15 players has a registration fee of $250 (or $275 for online registration). Check in for the tournament will begin at 8 a.m. and the first game will begin at 8:30 a.m.

"The money raised from that is going back to the Wilson County Firefighters Foundation, which allows us to give to multiple charities," Young said. "One of our big ones that we do is Operation Warm, which allows us to provide coats for kids in the Wilson County School System."

Last year, the foundation was able to give away nearly $4,000 worth of coats to students in the school system.

Money raised from the tournament will also help the foundation to give back to firefighters in need.

"We just built a wheelchair ramp for one of our guy's father who was having some health condition problems," Young said. "He lives in the county and it allows our med units to get him in and out of the house safely, as well as his family getting him in and out of the house safely for treatments and things like that."

Events like the kickball tournament are essential for the Wilson County Firefighters Association to continue to help its community.

"It's very important," Young said. "It allows us to not only give back to our community, but to be able to provide for our firefighters. First and foremost, we take care of our members if they need help financially, legally, anything, we help provide services."

When planning the event, the Wilson County Firefighters Association considered other options like a golf tournament before settling on a kickball tournament.

"So many people do golf tournaments and softball tournaments and those types of things," Young said. "We were trying to think of something outside the box, what would be fun, and what we could get teams out for from all over."

Someone suggested a kickball tournament after recalling kickball leagues in the area.

"I'd never even thought about that," Young said. "I hadn't played kickball since I was in school."

Teams can register by sending their team's name to youngc@iaff4238.org.