By Sarah Wallace

Sports community looks to honour one of their own

Nov 9, 2016 | 11:00 AM

In June of 2016 the Prince Albert Minor Softball Association (PAMSA) lost one of its own.

Shaye Amundson, 18, from Debden passed away June 28 following a car accident.

Stephanie Ripplinger, vice president of the Aallcann Development Fastball Organization, said the organization and the PAMSA decided to retired Amundson’s jersey from the U-18 female program.

“Ever since her passing our organization has done different things for her family in her name,” she said.

Ripplinger said Amundson was a part of the Aces family since the age of 13. PAMSA wanted to do something more to honour her so they created the campaign We Play for Shaye.

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“Many of our Aces and Astros family, it hit us right to the core as far as the passing of one of our family members, so we took that and we wanted to make something out of a horrible incident to make it into something positive for Shaye. Shaye was not only a member of a ball team but she was part of a family. One of our family members is gone, she’s gone in the physical part but she’s absolutely not gone in our hearts and minds,” she said.

We Play for Shaye is a campaign to raise money to help name the last unnamed ball diamond at the Max Power Ball Park.

The campaign was recently submitted in a contest put on by Aviva for a chance to win a share of $1 million in community funding.

We Play for Shaye was one of 106 campaigns throughout Canada that put forward a project.

There were three rounds of voting with the last round finishing on Nov. 7.

The top five campaigns in each category at the end of the voting then go to an independent panel who will decide which campaign will get the grand prize, a share of the $1 million.

We Play for Shaye made the top five following the last round of voting and even if they don’t take home the top prize when the winner is announced on Dec. 6, the campaign will walk away with at least $5,000.

Ripplinger said the campaign actually began well before the Aviva contest.

She said different organizations, families and strangers have been donating money to the campaign to name the diamond after Amundson.

She said no matter what they will be naming the field after her.

Recently, the Melville Prairie Fire of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA made a donation of $680 to the campaign because one of the girls played with Amundson’s sister and the team wanted to help with the campaign.

Ripplinger said the University of Saskatchewan softball team also donated $500.

She said it’s important to recognize young athletes because that’s what sports is all about — rallying behind your teammates.

“Shaye was one of those athletes who had an infectious smile, had an infectious attitude, she was always your cheerleader no matter if you made a good play, bad play, she would be there to cheer you on. She’s our angel in centre field, she’s always going to be a part of our diamond and always a part of our team,” she said.

Ripplinger said the Amundson family is in complete support of the campaign.

“They’re amazed, they’re thrilled that this is happening, that not only are we as a city, organization, as a family, doing this in Shaye’s name, they’re 110 per cent behind this,” she said.

swallace@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahthesquid