Avnet will be hosting the 5th annual B2B (business-to-business) 16-inch Softball Classic on Saturday, November 17th, 2007. The tournament players include 28 men's and co-ed teams from businesses in the Phoenix area. The Dirks Moving and Storage men's team and the Avnet co-ed team will defend their titles at the Tempe Sports Complex. All profits from the tournament will benefit Phoenix Children's Hospital, St. Vincent DePaul and the YMCA Balls of Summer program.
Championship games will be played at the same venue and taped for television the evening of Monday, November 19th. Also playing that night in a celebrity game will be local AM radio station 910 vs. Channel 3 TV. The games will be broadcast on Arizona Channel 3 on December 8th at noon, hosted by SCF Arizona.
Organizer Al Maag, chief communications officer at Avnet: "The enthusiasm around this event continues to grow. Two-thirds of the teams are back again and new ones have joined us, having heard about it on the Bickley & MJ sports radio show on AM910."
The 16-inch Softball Classic is one of Avnet's key annual community outreach programs, attracting anywhere from 500 to 750 players and fans. According to Maag, it's about "fun, networking, employee morale and helping needy kids."
Why 16-inch? "The best version of the game of softball is the one that was invented in Chicago in the late 1800s and uses the big ball," said Maag. "Twelve-inch softball is better known, but it's like a home-run derby - it's dangerous and the games can run too long. Sixteen-inch softball takes more skill and strategy."
Corey LaRusso and friends from the Backspin Golf Show on AM910 radio will broadcast live from the event for fourth year in a row. Sports 910 has also organized its own softball team, led by ex-Chicagoans Dan Bickley and Michael Bauer, and Bickley's radio co-host Mike Jurecki.
Sports 910's Bickley and MJ will also be organizing a celebrity game, to be played the same night as the championships, to benefit St. Vincent de Paul and The Valley of the Sun YMCA's Balls of Summer. The evening will include a big raffle and prizes.
First prize in the 16-inch tournament will be donated by the Phoenix Coyotes - a suite for one of their games.
Second-place team members will win Don & Charlie's Restaurant gift certificates.
Budweiser is donating beverages for the tournament. Spark Design is arranging live music and kids games.
Also lending support for the tournament: SCF AZ, The Phoenix Business Journal, The City of Tempe, The Phoenix Sports Commission, Phoenix Suns, Arizona Technology Council, Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, Business Wire, PrismaGraphic, Bowne, the Arizona Corporate Broadcast Center, KPMG and Channel 3.
Sponsorship and TV advertising opportunities are available. Contact the tournament coordinator, Jennifer Lintner, at 480-643-5401 or by email at jennifer.lintner@avnet.com.
