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by Larry Devine l.devine@carrollspaper.com Carroll Times Herald July 23, 2021
The games in Carroll Rotary Club’s annual Field of Teams Softball Tournament are mostly for fun. The score that means the most is the tournament’s fundraising success for St. Anthony Regional Hospice.
After coronavirus pandemic sidelined last year’s Field of Teams, organizers are raring to get the tournament back into action.
Signup for the 24th annual Field of Teams, which will be played Sunday, Aug. 8, at the Carroll Softball Complex, is underway. The tournament offers play in a 16-inch Church/ Service Club/Family Division and a 14-inch Business/Co-ed Division.
Entry fee is $75 per team. Make checks payable to Carroll Rotary Club and note “For Hospice Softball Tournament” on the memo line.
Entry deadline is Monday, Aug. 2. To sign up a team, contact Tournament Director Bob Fasbender at 792-3115. Information is available from Fasbender or Hospice Volunteers Coordinator Carmen Schimmer at 794-5392.
The tournament will begin at 11 a.m. Aug. 8, and there will be an hour time limit on each game in order to stay close to schedule.
- In the 16-inch Church/Service Club/Family Division, balls will be provided. Rules call for each team to have at least two women on the field at all times.
- In the 14-inch Business/Co-ed Division, each team should bring a ball. Each team must have at least five women on the field at all times.
Representatives from Rotary and hospice emphasize that the tournament is a fun, family friendly event for a good cause.
Over the last 23 years, Field of Teams has raised $64,163, including $3,100 from the 2019 tournament, for hospice. Although the tournament was canceled last year, Rotary still donated $500 to hospice.
Funds has been used for the following:
— Purchase materials such as “Gone From My Sight” book and other educational materials given family members and loved ones to help them understand and process the journey their loved one is on.
— Providing bereavement services and materials to assist loved ones after the passing of family members. Hospice follows up with loved ones for 13 months, if the family members so choose, with monthly mailings, quarterly phone calls to check in and visit.
Hospice also offers monthly bereavement support group meetings that are open to everyone, not just those whose loved ones have been on hospice.
To raise additional funds for hospice, each team is urged to have a tournament all-star who will gather additional donations from family, friends, teammates and co-workers.
The all-star who raises the most will be recognized as the Hospice Super Star.
Tournament Director Fasbender, who’s also a past Rotary president, said he himself plans to put up $100 and challenge fellow Rotarians to also contribute.
Organizers noted St. Anthony Regional Hospice impacts people throughout the community and a number of players and teams in the tournament have had a connection to hospice.
“I’ve gone through it with family members. I know it’s a very worthwhile service,” Fasbender said.
Many people don’t think of hospice until it’s needed and then they see how valuable the service is, he added.
Fasbender pointed out Carroll Rotary has had a long history with hospice, and in fact helped spearhead start of a hospice room in St. Anthony Regional Hospital.
Rotary later funded remodeling and new furnishings for the room. The club over the years continued with smaller donations to hospice, but then decided it was time to up its game and began the Field of Teams.
“We appreciate the ongoing effort that Rotary puts on every year to help support our patients and families,” said Nikki Schwering, RN, BSN, director of St. Anthony Home Health, Hospice and Public Health.
Fasbender said of the Field of Teams return, “We need to get people focused back again on it, know that help is out there, that they need volunteers year-round for people who need hospice care.”
Spectators’ admission to the tournament is free. Freewill donations are welcome. Local stores and other businesses have donated food and beverage concessions.
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