By Matt Pignataro
Sentinel Correspondent
The Wiffle Ball Tournament is a tradition in the month of July for Greenwich adults and kids of all ages.
After starting seven years ago as a fundraiser to build a Wiffle field for local kids, the tournament has evolved into an event for the people of Greenwich and the neighboring towns to come and enjoy.
With the large number of participants for the Greenwich Wiffle Ball Tournament, the event will once again take place at the Greenwich Polo grounds.
One of the huge advances at this year’s tournament will be the new Wiffle Field that is scheduled to be open in late August at Byram Shore Park, located off exit 2 of I-95.
The opening of the Wiffle Field at Byram Shore Park draws to an end the infamous “Wifflegate” episode of eight years ago, which drew national media attention.
That summer a few local teens cleared out a drainage lot in Riverside and built a Wiffle ball field including its very own 12-foot “Green Monster” fence in center field. The neighbors living next to the field got upset and lawyers were called. “It turns out that one kid’s field of dreams is an adult’s dangerous nuisance,” the New York Times reported in 2008. After a long battle, the field was dismantled.
That’s where the United Way of Greenwich and Jenny Byxbee stepped in.
“Originally the tournament was a fundraiser to build a field, but got more and more popular every year so we continued to run it,” said Byxbee, describing how the United Way started the Greenwich Wiffle Ball Tournament.
What once was a simple fundraising event is now one of the most popular summer events in town.
“We get teams from all over,” said Byxbee. “It’s one of the few events where you see people from all the communities in town participate in. I love it.”
After seven years of hosting the tournament, enough funds were raised to build the Wiffle Ball Field at Byram Shore Park.
Now that the United way has accomplished its main goal—building the new field—it’s handing the ball to the Silver Shield Association, Greenwich’s police union, which will run the tourney.
After being part of such a successful program, it is easy to see that Byxbee will miss running it.
“I still very much feel that I am and always will be a big part of the Wiffle tournament, as one of the founding members with Jen and Ron Young, Keith Hirsch, Brandon Lacoff and the Bellantoni family,” said Byxbee. “Moreover, I consider many of our Greenwich police good friends, and Wiffle fans can still anticipate seeing me as a hands-on volunteer this year and hopefully in years to come.”
The Silver Shield is excited to take over the tournament.
“The Wiffle Ball Tournament to me is the best possible example of young people working with adults and the community to provide solutions to matters they care about,” Silver Shield representative Tommy Keegan said. “If Greenwich doesn’t care about what matters to Greenwich’s children, who will? Sometimes, those problems are big, some times small. In the case of the Wiffle, we were lucky in that it was a fun problem to be solved.”
The tournament will be held July 18 (rain date: July 19) at the Greenwich Polo ground.
It is $100 to sign up a team of four to five players. Register at greenwichwiffle@gmail.com
