Aldergrove Minor Baseball Association is aiming to host a mosquito baseball tournament this summer in memory of the late Aldergrove Star photographer Harry Hunt.
Chris Clogg, the mosquito level coordinator for the AMBA, says his goal is to hold the event on the same weekend as Aldergrove Festival Days, the third weekend of July.
“We have up to three fields available for the tournament that aren’t being used by the festival and the events will complement each other, by bringing more people in and giving them more to do and see in Aldergrove that weekend,” said Clogg.
The AMBA executive is enthusiastic about the idea and Clogg has been soliciting support from other organizations such as the Aldergrove Business Association as well as the Aldergrove Festival Days Committee.
Proceeds from the event would be given to the Harry Hunt Scholarship fund, in recognition of Hunt’s support for the amateur youth sports groups in Aldergrove over the past 50 years that he resided here.
Clogg had initially proposed making the tournament a joint mosquito-peewee effort but decided to keep it to one level — mosquito — for ease of scheduling. The peewee teams are also proposing to again host the John Main Classic Tournament in the spring, and will be concentrating their efforts on this event.
“I am aiming for eight to 12 teams from the valley and region, and expect a lot of interest,” said Clogg.
Clogg will also be scheduling the fields and recruiting volunteers to help run a good tournament.Information will be posted on the AMBA website as things are confirmed and shored up.
The AA mosquito baseball is for ages nine to 11, and while Aldergrove boasts several mosquito teams during the spring and fall seasons, the summer ball season is short — July 1 to August 1 — and there is usually only one Aldergrove mosquito team.
The spring season runs from April 1 to June 15 and the fall season runs from September 1, although many ball players move into ice hockey for that season. The higher level midget, bantam and peewee baseball programs run year-round.
