Sports

Kala’s Wings Softball Tournament raises awareness and funds for suicide prevention

October 9, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The annual Kala’s Wings Softball Tournament took place at Rotary Park and other local ball diamonds in Orangeville on Saturday, Oct. 4, and Sun. Oct. 5, to bring awareness to suicide prevention and raise money for a good cause.

The tournament’s namesake, Kala, was a 26-year-old Orangeville woman with two children. She committed suicide in 2018.

Her parents, Don and Colleen Menard, started the tournament in her memory to raise funds for charitable causes and raise awareness about suicide.

Suicide is often considered a taboo subject that many people don’t want to talk about.

“This is our fourth year doing this, we had a break during COVID,” Don explained. “Our daughter passed away from suicide and we do this in her honour, and we’re trying to help others by doing this. Our main goal is to raise awareness that mental health is real and it’s something people need to talk about. This year we’re raising money for the Men’s Outreach Orangeville.”

This year, the tournament had 24 teams playing over the two days, with a round-robin style of play on Saturday and elimination games on Sunday.

“Teams are guaranteed four games,” Don explained. “We’re playing on four diamonds. We’re playing at Rotary Park, Idlewild, and Princess of Wales park. We have the Taphouse helping out with beer, and we have beverages and food.”

Over 300 players took part in the tournament. To keep things moving, games were limited to 45 minutes each.

Funds raised will go to help Men’s Outreach Orangeville, which is a group that meets at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Orangeville.

“It’s a support group, we meet once a week from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.,” explained group organizer Paul Trickett. “We get anywhere from six to 10 guys out, some are regulars. We usually start out by asking ‘How was your week?’ We go around the table, and most times we have a topic dealing with things like relationships, anxiety, and stress. We have an open dialogue. Men in general, internalize and keep things in until it’s too late. We have an open forum to talk about your feelings, or you can just stay and listen.”

The tournament was a success, and the weather cooperated to make for great playing conditions for the final time on the diamond this season.

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