Erie Frost's annual softball tournament returns Friday. What to know for the weekend
One of Erie County’s largest youth sports events will return this weekend when 74 teams take part in the eighth annual Erie Frost Softball Battle of Lake Erie Tournament.
The event, held at multiple Erie County locations including the David Long Complex at Walnut Creek Middle School and Harborcreek Community Park, will welcome teams from Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania. They’ll “Play for Bri” on Saturday to raise funds for Brianna Lee, a PennWest Edinboro assistant softball coach who is battling cancer a second time.
“This is one of our red-letter examples of a local event,” said Mark Jeanneret, executive director of Erie Sports Commission. “The Frost organization does a fantastic job of putting this tournament together and works extremely hard to make it successful and attractive to teams coming into town.”
What will the tournament entail?
Teams will compete in six age-based divisions: 8-and-under, 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U and 18U. Action will run Friday-Sunday.
More: These 24 players were named to the Erie Times-News' All-District 10 Softball Team
Multiple food trucks will be set up at the Harborcreek complex Saturday and Sunday. They’ll be found along the walking path behind Field 2 and Field 7, and near the playground adjacent to Field 11 and Field 12.
All Frost players will sport “Play for Bri” shirts during Saturday’s games to support Lee, a breast cancer survivor who is now fighting cancer in her liver. In addition to the 100-plus shirts ordered for Frost players and coaches, the organization sold 141 shirts as a fundraiser for Lee and will sell 50/50 tickets for her benefit during the event.
How will it impact local businesses?
Erie County hotels have already felt the tournament’s impact.
Homewood Suites on Interchange Road, Courtyard by Marriott-Erie Bayfront, Holiday Inn on Peach Street and Hampton Inn & Suites-Erie Bayfront all said they’re booked full through the weekend. A representative from the Hampton Inn said that the influx of reservations is not common but was expected for a youth sports event of this magnitude.
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Jeanneret estimated the tournament’s local economic impact to be more than $800,000, a figure he called conservative and dependent on how many players, coaches and parents each team brings. It is the largest summer youth event with which Erie Sports Commission is involved.
“I can’t say enough about how dedicated this group of organizers are,” Jeanneret said. “The time that they put into this tournament is hard to calculate, and they’re a prime example of a local group we work with that continues to do great work and help the tourism industry in our county.”
For more tournament information, visit bit.ly/eriefrost.
Contact Jeff Uveino at juveino@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter@realjuveino.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Battle of Lake Erie softball tournament returns
