Twelve teams descended on Oakledge Park in Burlington on Friday, August 3rd to compete in the 9th Annual Kicks for a Cure kickball tournament, hosted by the Lake Champlain Chamber and Burlington Young Professionals. Proceeds from the tournament benefit Camp Ta-Kum-Ta, a year-round camp for children with cancer located in South Hero.
Camp Ta-Kum-Ta board member Rich Gardner got the crowd excited to play with a personal anecdote about why supporting Camp Ta-Kum-Ta is important to him and how this tournament helps drive their mission. Gardner instilled passion and inspiration in the competitors, and when the whistle blew promptly at 4:00pm to mark the start of the tournament, the teams marched to their fields with purpose and determination.
Teams included Coldwell Banker Hickok and Boardman Realty, Bytes.co, Fairway Mortgage, Revision Military, Gallagher, Flynn & Company, The Essex Resort & Spa, C2 Competitive Computing, United Technologies, BNI, Blue Flame, and Keller Williams Vermont. Colorful uniforms speckled the four fields and intermittent bursts of cheers could be heard from the pavilion, where the BYP team was working to get the grill going to fuel the teams once they were finished.
Once the final siren blew to end the games, the teams made their way to a tasty spread of burgers and dogs and cracked open some celebratory Vermont-brewed beers. As the teams mingled and relaxed, the BYP team secretly tallied up the points and announced this year’s winner – Coldwell Banker Hickok and Boardman Realty would take home the golden cleat this year!
Thank you to all who played, helped, donated and attended! You’re all winners in our eyes! See you next year!
To check out more photos from the tournament, check out Burlington Young Professionals on Facebook!