Chestermere high school student Steen Wallin raised over $300 in support of Kids Sport during the 2019 Easter Break Dinger Derby Whiffle Ball Home Run tournament on April 23.
“I chose Kids Sport because it supports the sports that I love and that I’m connected to,” event organizer Steen Wallin said.
Wallin is currently in the Rocky View Leadership Academy (RVLA) where he learns leadership skills for event planning.
“We had to plan an event that benefited our community,” Wallin said.
Although Wallin is very passionate about baseball, he chose to organize a whiffle ball tournament because the game is easy to understand and play, and there is no need for experience.
Around 13 youth came out to support Kids Sport and participate in the whiffle ball tournament, had lunch, and were able to win prizes such as hoodies, hats, t-shirts, blue tooth speakers, backpacks and gift cards with a $25 donation fee.
“Every kid went home with a prize, and that was amazing,” Wallin said.
“We were happy with the number of kids we got. It was a blessing in disguise because it was easier to manage,” he added.
Wallin enjoyed watching everyone start to warm-up and hit the whiffle balls and getting into the game.
“That was cool to see that we could come up with this idea,” Wallin said.
Throughout the event, Wallin heard youth who had never played baseball before saying how much fun they were having, and how easy it was.
“People were enjoying the sport which was nice to see. It felt like everybody there had a great time,” Wallin said.
“All the kids had fun, there were always smiles on everybody’s faces,” he added.
After the success of the 2019 Easter Break Dinger Derby Whiffle Ball Home Run tournament Wallin is now considering doing the event again next year.
“It was a good first running of the event. It was a good jumping off point for people to carry on in the future. It can snowball into the future, and hopefully become a bigger and bigger event each year,” he said.
