(Riverton, WY) – The first-ever Battle for Mental Health First Responder’s Co-Ed Softball Tournament was held this past weekend on June 24th and 25, which functioned as a fundraiser for the Wyoming L.A.S.T. Team.
(The Wyoming Local Assistance State Team (LAST) is a voluntary program administered by the National Fallen Firefighter’s Foundation. The primary objective of the LAST team is to provide assistance and comfort to the family and department after a firefighter line-of-duty death (LODD) and to help with filing for Federal Public Safety Officer’s Benefit (PSOB) as well as state and local benefits.)
The Renegades out of Lame Deer, MT took first place in the tournament, while the Playground Legends out of Casper nabbed second.
BD Sliders, a Fremont County team, took 3rd place, and the other participating teams were Playmakers out of Idaho, and Fremont County’s Counting Coup.
“We did this tournament to start a mental health initiative for first responders here in Wyoming,” Heidi Haines, the main event organizer told County 10. “Wyoming doesn’t currently have a readily available and funded mental initiative for first responders.”
“For me personally, this hits home,” Haines said, explaining that her brother was almost in a line of duty death, and that she has also seen fellow first responders succumb to job loss and suicide from mental health issues and trauma caused from the nature of their jobs.
“It’s just something that needs to happen for our first responders. The community may support them, but they don’t see what goes in in the background.”
The tournament was organized by Haines and Levi Shinkle, and although it was a success no matter what in terms of raising EMS mental health awareness, Haines expressed some disappointment in the number of teams that signed/showed up.
“Eight teams were scheduled to play but only five ended up participating,” Haines said, adding that the goal was to get up to 30 teams.
Despite low numbers for the inaugural years, Haines says she hopes the tournament will be a yearly thing, and maybe even be a travelling tournament around the state.
To learn more or to find out how to donate to the cause, reach out on the tournament Facebook page.
Check out some more photos of the championship games below!
