The Queen Bee Softball organization based in Wheeling is a little more than a year old.
What started with a 10u team last summer blossomed into a five-team organization this travel season, with further growth continuing into next with eight.
Next weekend, the Bees organization will host its first travel tournament starting Friday, August 20 and running through Sunday, August 22.
The Battle for the Hive begins next Friday at the I-470 Complex in Wheeling where teams will battle across four age divisions: 8u, 10u, 12u, and 14u.
Hosting their own tournament seemed like the natural progression for the organization’s members.
“We started out with just that one 10u team last summer and it’s expanded into the five we have this year,” said Anthony Elswick, the head coach of one of QBS’ 14u teams and the parent of a player on the 12u. “In part because of our organization’s financial gains and stuff we’ve received for the teams, we decided to do the tournament and (first) made the announcement back in December.”
“We have 20 teams total between the four divisions,” wife Kayla Elswick mention, who has spearheaded handling the finer points of getting the tournament prepared in addition to serving as an information source for multiple QBS teams.
For their first time out, Kayla admitted QBS was hoping to get six teams per tournament. They’ve nearly accomplished that in all but one division. The 14u bracket has its six teams. The 12u and 10u brackets have five apiece; the 8u fields just four for now. Spots are available however if teams are interested.
“We were looking to have six teams per age group for our first tournament and we were able to accomplish that pretty much with the exception of the 8u,” Kayla said. “8u is hard to get teams for tournaments this time of year.”
In fairness, Anthony noted that most organizations have their summer tournaments in June and July as August you’ll usually find teams hosting tryouts for the following season.
Four Game Guarantee
Most tournaments you’ll find a three-game guarantee. The Battle for the Hive features four. That’s helped bring in teams to the tournament despite the relative newness of its host organization.
The Bees have also received ample support from longer-standing travel clubs in the area, both in cooperation and in willingness to partake in the tournament.
“Being a newer organization and the tournament being later than usual, the hardest part has been getting teams to sign up,” Kayla admitted. “But all the local teams in the area have been awesome throughout the whole thing. We have more local teams than not in the tournament, and we truly appreciate all the support from all the local coaches and organizations that have signed up.”
The organization is hoping to make this an annual event, albeit one that is held a bit earlier during the travel season.
Anthony Elswick also noted given the sometimes lack of available tournaments specifically for 8u teams, he’s pondering about offering 8u only tournaments next summer as well.
“We’d love to have a couple just 8u tournaments, either round robins or bracket play tournaments,” he said. “It will be beneficial to the girls, and I think it’d be a good time. Besides, 8u is by far my favorite division.”
The cost for attendance at the Battle for the Hive is $5 per carload, per day. There will be food trucks in addition to the 470 concessions stand open to serve patrons and players alike. There will also be a few other vendors, in addition to a few surprises in stores for the players.
“We just want to say we truly appreciate all the support from the community whether it’s been for all the fundraising we’ve done, advertisement, and just coming out and supporting the girls,” Kayla Elswick said.
The Bees recently held their tryouts for the next season. One hundred and twenty seven girls showed up and those earning roster sports will comprise eight teams spread across five divisions as QBS will be fielding a 16u team for next season as well.
That’s not bad growth at all for an organization still in its relative infancy.
For more information, or to possibly sign up for the tournament if spots remain, check out the Queen Bee Softball Facebook page.
