Let’s face it, we all compete in athletic events to win. Unfortunately when there is a winner there technically has to be a loser.
In the District III Pat Knight tournaments that are being held now and throughout the coming weeks, however, it seems as if every participant is a winner.
And that was the goal longtime District III staff member George Cahill had 15 years ago when he proposed the idea to then administrator Martin Donovan.
“I was coaching a softball All-Star team and I noticed that several girls who were very deserving had to be left off roster,” Cahill said. “And for them, the season was over even if they wanted to keep playing.
“So, I came up with the idea for what is now Pat Knight and proposed it to Martin and he went with the idea.”
And since then the tournaments have blossomed into something bigger than Cahill ever expected.
This season, the Pat Knight tournaments include teams from pretty much every softball and baseball age group and over 300 total players.
“I never expected it to get like this,” Cahill said. “It’s nice to see though.”
Part of the appeal of Pat Knight is that its games are less intense than that of the All-Stars.
Every team plays all the other teams in a round robin tournament and at the end the two teams with the best records at each level meet for a championship contest.
“I feel like I can just go out there and have fun, and that feels good” Georgetown Major League Pat Knight player Chase Wells said. “It gives us a chance to keep playing.”
Most tournaments are being held this year, as they have in recent memory, at the Millsboro and Nanticoke (Seaford) Little Leagues.
Cahill, who is typically quick to deflect credit for his efforts, was equally fast in praising the efforts Nanticoke’s Mike Smith and Millsboro’s Sandy Baker for their role in Pat Knight’s success.
“Really, I don’t have to do anything anymore, because I am confident Mike and Sandy will make everything work,” he said. “They do everything, like getting their families to work concessions, dragging fields between games and anything else I could think of.
“I don’t even have to call and make sure everything is running smoothly because I know it is.”
One change in the Pat Knight tournament that began last year is with the Minor League Softball bracket.
