Arviat will play host to the first Eskimo Point U20 Men's Softball Championship from Aug. 1-3.
Tournament organizer Gleason Uppahuak said he had the idea for the event about a month ago, when he was thinking about how he could keep his junior hockey players busy in sports throughout the summer, so they won't be rusty at the start of the upcoming hockey season.
He said the players were totally up for the idea and he has high hopes for the first event.
鈥淚 get the same feeling for this, pretty much, as I do for hockey,鈥� said Uppahuak. 鈥淣othing can beat hockey, but this is shaping up to be a lot of fun.鈥�
鈥淭he players are pretty pumped up for this tournament.鈥�
Uppahuak said he hopes to keep the new tournament an annual event.
He said he's excited to have his players involved in softball while they're at their prime level of athleticism.
鈥淭he junior age is the age when these young men are at their fittest and fastest. It's not that I don't like the co-ed softball, it's that I wanted to see what the players can do against prime competition from across the region.
鈥淚'm also hoping this will also help to keep their level of compete strong throughout the summer.鈥�
Uppahuak said with this being the tournament's first year, he doesn't want to guess how many players the event will attract.
He said he hopes to see every community in the region send a team.
鈥淚f one of the teams backs out, I'll try to get another team from one of the communities. We can have a maximum of eight teams for the tournament.
鈥淎fter speaking with the hamlet, it seems like a guarantee that they will provide the funding to run the tournament.
鈥淚'm positive if every community sends a team then this will be a great tournament.
鈥淥verall, things look good for us having a great first Eskimo Point U20 Men's Softball Championship with the promise of many more to come over the years.鈥�
