7 teams confirmed for Sufa softball fundraiser

Seven teams so far are penciled in for the Team Sufa Softball Fundraiser set this weekend at the Capitol Hill Ballfield.
The entrance fee is set at $100 per team and there is no deadline to register. However, the first 15 teams to pay in full will land a spot on the double-elimination bracket.

A live deer goes to the winning team and by rule, two female players must be on every team, and of these, at least one must play out in the field at all times; and both must remain in the lineup. There is a maximum of 15 players per team.

The bracket will be randomly formulated and the competition is scheduled to kick off at 6pm tonight. From there, games will run all day through Saturday and Sunday, starting at 10am.

The winning team gets to choose between a full grown male or female deer and various consolation prizes will also be awarded to participating teams.

Sufa in Chamorro is a verb that translates into “pushing or hitting” something.

Team Sufa is a non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to raise its own funds throughout the year in order to represent the CNMI in the popular CNMI Labor Day Softball Tournament held in the U.S. mainland.

This year marks the eighth installment of the Labor Day event and Sufa’s fifth appearance.

Unfortunately, Sufa was the first team eliminated last year, but was awarded the team sportsmanship award.

In effort to step up its game, Sufa has recruited younger players to add some fire in its step.

The Labor Day tournament started with 16 teams and grew to 31 squads in 2008. It all started as a friendly tournament organized by a small group of CNMI players living in the states who simply wanted to meet up together for some camaraderie and healthy competition. From there the event grew remarkably in popularity, so much in fact that organizers recently voted to apply stricter eligibility rules.

Over the years, many stateside teams recruited players of non-CNMI decent, which negatively changed the fabric of the event.

The eligibility rules were amended in recent years to support CNMI-affiliated competition.

The rule change requires all players to either be born with at least some CNMI lineage or be have connections to the islands through marriage.

As a result of the change, the pool shrunk to 21 teams in 2011 and a similar number is expected to turnout in this year’s tourney, which will be held for a second time in Boise, Idaho.

The event hops around to a different city every year, and eligibility rules may change from year to year depending on what the host teams elect to do.

In the past, the tourney was held in Las Vegas, Seattle, San Diego, and Portland to new a few.

CNMI teams from Idaho, California, Washington, Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada, and the CNMI have all participated in past events. This year, Labor Day falls on Sept. 3.

For more information, contact Sufa’s Joe Flores at 483-7848 or Sufa secretary Alfreda Camacho at 287-3818 or email teamsufa@gmail.com.