SURREY — A softball tournament this weekend will remember an athlete killed by a drunk driver.
The fourth annual Kassandra Kaulius Memorial Softball Tournament will be held at Softball City, starting today (Friday) and ending Sunday.
It's the largest senior women's softball tourney in B.C., according to Kassandra's mother, Markita.
The tournament was started after the death Kassandra, 22, who was struck and killed by an impaired driver on May 3, 2011 in Surrey, as she was driving home after coaching a young girl’s softball team.
This weekend, there will be 20 teams competing in the tournament in support of a scholarship in Kassandra's name.
"Four years ago, Kassandra Kaulius was studying to become a teacher at the University of the Fraser Valley," Markita wrote in a Facebook post.
"After Kassandra died our family knew that we wanted to make another young girl’s dream come true so the started the Kassandra Kaulius Memorial Scholarship Fund. In the past 4 years, the Kaulius family have given out 15 scholarships to young women who are in pursuit of a post-secondary education."
As well, each player competing in the tournament this year is encouraged to bring a new children’s toy the ballpark.
"All of the toys collected will be donated to the Surrey Memorial Hospital for children who are in hospital receiving treatment for illnesses," Markita wrote.
"This tournament is about a community coming together to support two great causes and it is about giving back to others. Everyone is welcome to come out and watch some great games of softball and stop by and enter to win some great prizes. All proceeds collected are in support of the Kassandra Kaulius Scholarship Fund. It was Kassandra's dream to give back to others and with the assistance of so many other we are making her dream come true. Thank you to everyone and we hope everyone has a great weekend."
I would like to thank the media for the news coverage of covering Justice Minister Peter MacKay’s announcement in Ottawa...
Posted by Kassandra Kaulius Memorial Page on Friday, June 19, 2015