Ryan’s Squad ended up winning the Ryan Larson Snowball tournament held at the South Cariboo Recreation Centre’s ball fields on Feb. 10 and 11.
“It went awesome,” said Barry Larson, one of the organizers of the tournament and part of the winning team.
Six teams competed in total with players from all over the province, including Prince George and the lower mainland.
“Everybody bearing the frigid cold weather for one was nice and when we did the two games under the lights, they turned out awesome. It was better than expected,” said Larson whose team played eight games to win the tournament. “It was all good, it was just nice that everybody came out.”
Roughly 90 people came out to the ball grounds to either play or spectate.
“It was a really good turnout,” Larson said.
The tournament used to be hosted in the Interlakes area but was moved to 100 Mile House because it was easier to accommodate travelling parties. The change of venues didn’t result in much of a challenge in putting this year’s tournament together, according to Larson.
“There wasn’t really any challenges, it was just all kind of a new thing,” he said. “Everything went smoothly and with all the support and help with everybody it kicked off really good.”
The winning team is named after the same person the tournament is named after and is made up of Ryan’s brothers and family members. Ryan died in 1996 after a battle with spinal meningitis.
The second place team was the Lakeside B&B, made up of players from all over. The third place went to the Bruising Buddies, made up of 100 Mile House and Kamloops residents.
The tournament started in 1985 in support of the Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion tour but was renamed after Ryan’s passing.