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Story of The World's Largest MDA Softball Tournament The Coldwater MDA "Burnout" Softball Tournament was first played for a flat tire, according to organizer Dale Buschur's recollection. In the late '70s when softball was the most popular adult sport in the area, Buschur, who then owned South Side Inn, wanted to participate in a roaming tournament that played the town where the winning team was located. His team had just played Koester's Korner, and that team was interested in the tournament, too. The rules for the so-called "Burnout" tournament were minimal. "Each bar had a softball team. The players had to be customers. They played for a regular flat tire," remembered Buschur. Unfortunately, the number of participating teams was limited to six. So, South Side and Koester's team decided to host their own Burnout tournament. We'll play for a flat tire, too," said Buschur. The initial organizers- owners of South Side Inn and members of the South Side burnout and league teams- initially planned for a six-team limit. However, Buschur made the serendipitous mistake of passing out the tournament flyer, with South Side's phone number, at a softball tournament in Wendelin. "The phone rang off the hook for the next two days," said Buschur. So, it was decided to have 25 teams compete in the tournament. As Buschur noted later, "I didn't know anything about brackets and tournaments." Because of the increased number of participants from six to 25, Buschur requested the event was going to make money, it must go to a charity. Since South Side was already collecting donations for Muscular Dystrophy, he named it as the charity. South Side made donating to MDA a test of skill and sobriety. An upside down shot glass was placed into a fish bowl. If the donated coin remained on top of the shot glass the donor received a free beer. Buschur's recollection is that even though he told MDA officials the tournament would probably make $2000-$3000 that first year, nobody would believe him. He said they told him that most softball tournaments made less than $1000 their first year. "They wouldn't come up for the event," he said. "(Channel 22 telethon MC) Johnny Walker went to another event that didn't make $1000." Buschur recalled that when he handed over a check for $7,329.00 during the telethon, MC Johnny Walker double-checked the figures. Channel 22 sent Walker up to cover the tournament in 1981. Thirteen years ago, MC Don Brown began covering the event. The tournament soon became so popular that "regular softball players would quit just to play the MD tournament," recalled Buschur. Because of that, during Year 10, it was decided that the tournament would no longer be a "burnout", although it retained the name. Instead, players in the so-called "beer" leagues (sponsored by bars) who didn't play in tournaments were permitted to participate. That caused problems of its own. "We destroyed quite a few leagues," Buschur said regretfully. Finally, the committee acted on a suggestion made by Buschur and Joe Bidlack, then the director of the men's tournament, and eliminated all eligibility rules. Men's and women's teams are each divided into two divisions- I and II for men and A and B for women. Men's Division II teams are new to the tournament or have gone three years without taking first through fourth place. Women's Division A is teams who are just coming into the tournament and teams that have gotten first or second in Division B or first through fourth place in Division A. The new teams that do not place in Division A after three years then drop down to Division B. The top four finishers in each division reveive plaques, with the winners getting T-shirts as well. Buschur and John Kessen are the only organizers from the original group. The organizing committee is made up entirely of volunteers. Each year's event take approximately five months to play, according to Buschur. "The first year," he reminisced, "we threw things together in four weeks." As activities have increased, so has the time demanded of the members of the planning committee. According to MDA District Director Kristen Moses, "This fundraiser is run by this committee. They're a wonderful committee. Without them, there'd be no tournament... We wish all of our events went as smoothly." Buschur, too, recognizes the efforts of the committee members and other tournament supporters. "I would like to thank lots and lots of people," he said, "but I don't want to single anyone out, because I'm going to forget somebody." Most of Buschur's time is spent coordinating appearances of MDA officials, poster children (now called Goodwill Ambassadors) and others, as well as working in other ways with the MDA in Dayton. "Prior to the tournament, I never knew a child who had muscular dystrophy," said Buschur. "I watched it (the telethon) every year and never saw anyone from Mercer County do anything. "It's been like a mushroom. It just keeps growing. "It's really not a Coldwater event any more because so many people, even on the committee, are out of town." He added that supporters come from as far as Dayton, teams from as far as Canada and audience members from all over the nation. "What started as a small event started by a bar has grown," he said. "It's become more than just a Coldwater event; it's an event to help the kids." How The MDA Softball Tournament Became International In the summer of 1991 a person by the name of Willie McGill became a spectator of the Coldwater MDA Softball Tournament. Willie was a truck driver who worked for a local trucking company in Fort Recovery, OH. His reason for being a spectator was that he was down for the week to work and he couldn't get home for the weekend. See he lived in Canada and worked in the United States. One of the ladies working at the same trucking company whose name is Carla Buening had a husband, Mike, who was also a committee member for the MD Tournament. After spending a lonely weekend away from his Canadian family, he found that he enjoyed the ladies end of the tournament very much so. Sitting in his truck, the week following the tournament, many thoughts of the weekend went through his mind. It was then that he realized that while he was sitting at the Coldwater tournament his wife and daughters were playing a softball game in Canada. Thinking, "If I have any way to control it, it will not happen like this next year." With this on his mind, after his run, he came back to Fort Recovery and asked Carla if there was any chance of getting his family's team into the tournament. Carla relayed this to Mike and inevitably the committee decided that is would be one great complement to our tournament and voted yes to adding Willie's team to the softball tournament. So in 1992 the Canadian ladies, known better as Watford Wipeout, came to the States and participated in the World's Largest MDA Softball Tournament. Being use to Canadian softball rules, which is quite different from the States', they didn't fair well but had a great time and decided they would come back the following year. The tournament for them, had become not only a softball tournament but also a great vacation for them and their spouses/boyfriends. The party was on. After the first year the girls started practicing in Canada but using American rules and more spectators followed them the second year. With husbands and boyfriends watching the tournament progress, many of them were also watching the men's tournament. Many of them too played Canadian softball. Itching to play, the tournament committee was approached by them to see if there was a chance for them to also participate. With other teams waiting in line, it was a rough decision for the committee to make. After an hour of deliberation the vote came in. Twenty-seven for and zero against having a Canadian men's softball team but they had to start in Division I, the tough division. Yes the ladies have improved. In 1993 the Canadian ladies took home a 4th place trophy. Also in 1997 Willie's Wipeouts got 4th place. That year the tournament got rained on and had to resume one week later. The Canadians, due to other engagements, couldn't return so they had to forfeit the rest of their games and take their 4th place plaque. Coach Willie McGill to this day says, "I think we could have won that tournament." In 2000 both the men's and ladies teams will be playing in our tournament. Many achievements that have been done by both the men's and ladies teams, over the years, have been greatly appreciated by the MDA, the tournament committee, and the city of Coldwater. It was never a mistake to make Canada part of the World's Largest MDA Softball Tournament Eh? TNX. Willie, Mary Jane, Debbie, Mary, Will and the rest of Willie's Wipeouts and Beer Eh!
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