Quyon hosted the 14th iteration of the Camp of Champs ball tournament over the weekend – an annual fundraising initiative put on to support Special Olympics athletes as well as mental health initiatives.
Every third weekend of August, RVs and tents roll onto the Quyon ball diamonds for the tournament. Families, friends and teammates camp out for the weekend of slowpitch to begin. Fourteen teams took part this year, including two teams made up of Special Olympics athletes – the Ottawa Trailblazers and the Renfrew Millionaires – alongside local teams including the Municipality of Pontiac and Gavans.
All of the proceeds from the tournament go toward supporting Special Olympians and mental health initiatives. This year’s money raised was donated to Children at Risk, an Ottawa-based charity that supports children with autism, as well as to a Fort Coulonge family who lost their home in a fire last January.
That family has a personal connection to the tournament through Matthew Melouche, who was helping coach the Ottawa Trailblazers this weekend, whose fiancée’s family was affected by the loss.
“Every time we fundraise, it lets us put something on, like we’re doing now,” said long-time organizing member Penny Foster.
“To bring all the [Special Olympians] in on a bus, well, that costs money,” she said, noting organizing events like this is a collection of efforts from people starting months in advance.
Funds are also put towards equipment for the athletes, because when they travel to provincial events, the team members need uniforms and equipment to meet tournament standards, Foster said.
Kristen Rae, a local barber, set up a chair to give haircuts over the weekend and donate all the proceeds back to the event. Andrew Hazard offered to get in on the action and pledged, for a couple hundred bucks, he would shave his head and beard.
“And then we ended up raising that in less than an hour,” Foster said.
Saturday evening, when the clippers came out, a grand total of $600 was raised, and Hazard got a fresh cut.
Both Foster and Paul Blackmore, who’s been organizing this tournament since its inception, used the word family to describe how the tournament feels. The same group of people come out, on the same weekend, year after year, not to necessarily win anything, but to just have a good time and support these athletes.
“It’s [thanks to] the people, the athletes that come to this tournament that are raising the money and doing them stupid things like shaving Hazard’s head, that we can afford to bring them, and give them an experience. Because that’s what it’s about, it really is, the experience that these kids are having. And that’s why I come back every year, because I love the smiles on their faces every game, and it’s so worth it,” Foster said.
