After a two year hiatus, The Peter Hallman Memorial Men’s Softball tournament returns to Kitchener this summer. The tournament will host a number of teams from across North America including teams from Alberta and New York. The tournament will have an open and Master’s division, both having a lot of parody according to tournament coordinator Jim Hallman.

“All the big teams are coming, but there is a lot of parity this year. Any team can win this year which makes it an exciting tournament.”

While the tournament has been running for a number of years, it was in 2014 where the tournament took the name of the late Peter Hallman, a major influencer and promoter for Softball in the Kitchener community. The tournament promotes well being in the community of Kitchener and as Hallman states, the tournament impact is quite remarkable.

“Bringing in the top teams in the world brings the community together. It is a very competitive environment that everybody enjoys coming out to, it is very well received.”

The tournament committee is excited to be hosting the tournament once again after the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the event in 2020 and 2021. The internationally known event has hosted teams from Australia, Czech Republic, Argentina, and other players from across the globe. Hallman spoke highly about how honoured he and his team are to host some of the most talented teams and players from around the world and showcase them to the Kitchener community.

“There is definitely a rich softball culture in Kitchener and we want to showcase the quality players that this sport and community has to offer.”

Kitchener Softball has had competitive teams competing in events for close to 50 years, a culture that now has teams in the junior, senior, and master’s ranks in both men's and women's divisions. This year’s men’s team is off to a fantastic start, currently ranked 3^rd in the league coming off a successful tournament where they knocked off the number one ranked New York Gremlins. Hallman is excited about his group, saying that they are in a rebuild process but have brought in some key players that fit the mould of the organization.

“We are a rebuilding group but we have a really solid squad. We want to win every game we play but all our guys have bought in to winning the right way which makes it such a great group to be around.”

You can catch the Kitchener Twins in action at home throughout the weekend. All games are scheduled to be played at the Peter Hallman Ball Yard in Kitchener. Games will run from 7:00pm – 9:00pm Friday night, 11:00am – 7:00pm Saturday, with Championship games running from 11:00am – 3:00pm Sunday.