Sam’s big jam climbs even higher
MID SEASON SLAMMER—The Molson/Coors CBS Masters Softball League held its annual mid season tournament this past weekend. Plumbing Plus defeated Stafford’s Welding in the final. Auto Connect and Shenanigans were the other semi finalists. This was the second tournament win for Plumbing Plus this year as they won the opening tournament as well. The mid season playoff was dubbed the Memorial Tournament in memory of recently departed players and umpires including Okie (Norbert) Jordan, Ian Greeley and Wayne Churchill.


By Craig Westcott
It was only the second year for the event, but participation in the now annual Sam Jam ball hockey event on the parking lot of Admirals Academy in Kelligrews on July 6-7 was already twice the size of what a pretty impressive inaugural one last year.
The tournament, in honour of six-year-old Sammy Porter of CBS who was lost to drowning two years ago, attracted 145 teams consisting of close to 1,500 players aged four to 15, along with their coaches.
“It was an awesome, amazing success again this year,” said councillor-at-large Paul Connors, who is the uncle of Sammy Porter.
Connors said some 256 round robin games were played on the 16 special ball hockey rinks set up for the weekend, along with 108 playoff games and 34 championship games. The number 34 was special because it was the number Sammy wore in the only street hockey tournament he ever played in, said Connors. Over a thousand awards and medals were handed out.
“Every team, no matter win or lose, got an opportunity to come up and lift up the championship trophy,” said Connors. “Just doing that alone, you could see the smiles on the kids faces. They don’t care if they win or lose, they got to touch the trophy.”
The tournament organizers also reached out to another family touched by tragedy.
“This year we built a special rink, an 80 x 30 outdoor rink and that was Linc’s Rink,” said Connors, referring to seven-year-old Lincoln Walsh of Harbour Main who died in a tragic accident in his backyard last year. “That was the showcase rink. It was the rink the championship games were played in. Sammy and Linc were the same age and we tried to get all (of the players) in their age group to play in that. Everybody loved it.”
There was also a division for children with various disabilities and challenges. “To see the smiles on their faces when they were presented with a jersey and their awards and their medals, it was pretty overwhelming,” Connors said.
Connors estimated some 6,000 people attended the site on Saturday and 3,000 the following day.
“There were five or six food trucks there and they all had an exceptional weekend,” Connors said.
The organizers struggled finding enough referees and scorekeepers to keep up with the number of teams that were registering. “But at the end of the day, people just came out and volunteered, and we ended up not having any delays,” said Connors. “It all went really good. We want to give a big shout out to all the volunteers. And behind the scenes there were construction companies and people volunteering their equipment and to do things for us that made it all so easier for us to put it all together as a group… Sam Jam started out as a street hockey tournament, but last year and this year it’s grown into something different, it’s grown into an opportunity for friends, family and the community to come out and help Sammy’s parents, Angie and Steve and his brother Aiden, and this year Linc’s parents Megan and Adam, to help them move on. The whole community atmosphere about it is unbelievable. It’s like a huge garden party… It’s really something, it helps make it a little more bearable, I suppose, for the parents and the families. But the support and the compassion from everybody has certainly gone beyond anything that anyone could imagine. On behalf of Steve and Angie and Aiden, I just want to say thank you.”
Mayor Darrin Bent said it’s also worth noting that proceeds from the event go to the Sammy’s Climb Higher Foundation, which helps children and families afford sports registration fees and equipment.
“A lot of smiles and a lot of participation come as a result of that event,” Bent said. “So, there’s a lot of good being spread around for sure.”