Officers, firefighters and the U.S. Coast Guard played ball on Saturday at Dimond Park and hit a home run of $1,646.23 for the Special Olympics Alaska.
The money was raised through donations, softball team registration fees, and food concession sales led by volunteers.
The Alaska Peace Officers Association Capital City Chapter hosts the “Guns Versus Hoses Charity Softball Tournament” event. Kirt Stage-Harvey, past president of APOA, said it’s just one way their members support the Special Olympics. They also host the Torch Run every May. The last time the softball tournament occurred was in 2022 due to a lack of team members.
“This is a way for us to continue to support those folks there,” he said. “They do the bowling, the basketball and they do swimming too. We look in the future to a little more partnership between us and them to help with coaching, and being a little more involved in the sports activities that they do.”
The charity softball tournament included teams from Capital City Fire/Rescue, the U.S. Coast Guard, Juneau Police Department, Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Department of Corrections. Each team paid a $300 registration fee that contributed to the fundraising.
Capital City Fire/Rescue’s softball team celebrates after their win against the Juneau Police Department and Alaska State Troopers. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
In the winter, APOA hosts the “Guns Versus Hoses Charity Hockey Tournament” at Treadwell Arena as a fundraiser for the chapter. Stage-Harvey compared that tournament to the softball game on Saturday.
“It’s a play on the hockey and that’s a big event for us,” he said. “Two teams playing isn’t as much fun, but you get other first responders, military, community involvement there, and so spread the joy and the involvement around. We get to needle each other and talk smack because we work with each other pretty closely around town. And so it’s fun to have a social event to bring everybody together instead of just a crisis situation.”
CCFR and the Coast Guard made it to the championship game with the Coast Guard winning 12-1.
Juneau Softball Association donated the softballs and two umpires for the games.
Members from the winning Coast Guard team also play in different leagues of JSA weekly.
“We’re grateful to be here,” Mike Salerno, public affairs officer for the Coast Guard, said following their win. “We’re really happy that we could support this event. It’s been an awesome team effort. It was great to play against folks that we work with all the time so we had a great time. It was a wonderful tournament. We hope to be back again next year.”
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.
Capital City Fire/Rescue’s team came in second place in the Alaska Peace Officer Association’s charity softball tournament on Saturday that fundraises for Special Olympics Alaska. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
The Juneau Police Department and Alaska State Troopers pose for a team photo following their close game with Capital City Fire/Rescue on Saturday in the Alaska Peace Officer Association’s charity softball tournament. The score was 5-4. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
