VT Wiffle Ball Tournament

4TH ANNUAL VT WIFFLE BALL TOURNAMENT TO

BENEFIT THE TRAVIS ROY FOUNDATION TO BE HELD AUGUST 12-14

Scheduled Guests to Include Red Sox Legend Bill ‘Spaceman’ Lee and

ESPN SportCenter Anchor John Buccigross

JERICHO, VT – The 4th Annual VT Wiffle Ball Tournament to Benefit the Travis Roy Foundation will be held Friday, August 12 through Sunday, August 14, 2005 at Little Fenway in Jericho, VT. Special guests at the event will include John Buccigross, ESPN anchor, and former Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos pitcher Bill ‘Spaceman’ Lee. Admission for spectators is free, and all proceeds from events will benefit the Travis Roy Foundation.

The tournament has quickly grown into one of the most successful annual supporters of the Travis Roy Foundation. The inaugural event drew six teams and raised $4,000. Last year, 12 teams competed, raising an astonishing $27,000. Sixteen teams from across the Northeast will be competing for the coveted ‘traveling’ trophy this year. The trophy spent the last year at on display at Comets Restaurant in Tyngsboro, MA, sponsor of the 2005 champion Comets Express.

“I love watching the rivalries that are firmly in place after just three years of competition,” said Travis Roy, founder of the Travis Roy Foundation. “Whether you're on the playing field or in the stands, you feel as though you’re an integral part of the weekend. The wiffle ball tournament at Little Fenway is a timeless event, with great people raising money for a terrific cause.”

Special guest John Buccigross is scheduled to throw out the opening pitch on Friday, August 12 at 6:00 PM and will join a team of celebrities as they challenge a team of tournament sponsors. An anchor with ESPN SportsCenter and host of the popular weekly show NHL2Night on ESPN2, Buccigross is a longtime supporter of the Travis Roy Foundation. A special guest at the CT-based Travis Roy Foundation Invitational Golf Tournament in 2002 and 2004, he joined NHL players Chris Drury, Tom Poti and Ted Drury as a co-host of the annual event this summer.

Bill “Spaceman” Lee will be pitching to those who sign up for the 1:00 PM Home Run Derby on Sunday, August 14. Lee won 119 games in the major leagues, including three straight 17-win seasons for the Boston Red Sox in the mid-1970s. He started Game Seven of the classic 1975 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, taking a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning before being relieved. Lee will also play on one of the local teams, called Spacemen, in the tournament. 2005 marks his second appearance at the VT Wiffle Ball Tournament to Benefit the Travis Roy Foundation.

“The Travis Roy Foundation tourney is one of the best I’ve ever done,” Lee said, “and the field and people are the best too! We actually talk about it throughout the year to various people.”

“Travis Roy is a great competitor,” said Joe Tirone, captain of the Staten Island Yankees who have played the tournament every year. “If you’ve read his book or perhaps remember his story you would know. This tournament is a testament to his competitiveness and talent. The SI Yankees are honored to participate each year and hope that this year we’ll be the team to take our picture with Travis in front of the famous center field scoreboard at Fenway.”

The Vermont Wiffle Ball Tournament to Benefit the Travis Roy Foundation will also feature activities, including taking a shot at the Green Monster during the Home Run Derby ($5 donation), Closest-to-the-Pin ($3 donation), a Dunking Booth ($3 donation) and raffles/auctions that will be held throughout the three-day event. Highlight items to be included in the silent auction include: Catamount Golf membership, Winter Getaway at the Inn at Essex, autographed sports memorabilia, and numerous items donated by local businesses.

TRAVIS ROY FOUNDATION: The Travis Roy Foundation (www.travisroyfoundation.org) distributes grants to paraplegics and quadriplegics in financial need to enable them to purchase items and technology necessary to live more independent lives. Examples of eligible items include upgrade/maintenance of wheelchairs, grants to assist in van purchases, vehicle modifications (i.e., hand controls and lifts), home modifications including ramp and elevator installation, and adaptive equipment. The Foundation also supports research into an eventual cure for spinal cord paralysis and supports the “First Five Project”, an innovative high intensity, focused exercise program for motivated spinal cord injured adolescents and adults with quadriplegia. The Travis Roy Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and donations are tax-deductible to the full extent as allowed by law.

TRAVIS ROY: On October 20, 1995, only eleven seconds into the first shift of his college hockey career at Boston University, Travis Roy’s dream was cut cruelly short when he shattered his fourth cervical vertebra, severely damaging his spinal cord. Travis Roy is now a quadriplegic, with no feeling below his shoulders and no movement in his legs or left arm. With limited control of only his right bicep, Roy is able to conduct simple yet key tasks such as operating the joystick of his wheelchair. He has faced his disability with the same sense of optimism and determination that distinguished his hockey career. A graduate of Boston University with a degree in public relations, Roy is a popular motivational speaker and is actively involved with the activities of the Travis Roy Foundation. In 1998, he published a book, Eleven Seconds, based on his life. In 2004, he made his debut as a television college hockey analyst with WMTW-TV8 in Portland, ME, and in 2005, he worked as a color analyst during ESPN's national coverage of the 2005 NCAA D-I college hockey playoffs. Travis Roy is a summer resident of Colchester, VT.

VT WIFFLE BALL TOURNAMENT: Founded in 2002, the event is played in Jericho, VT, a small town near Burlington. Founder Pat O’Connor built a wiffle ball sized replica of Fenway Park in his back yard, complete with the Citgo sign and Green Monster, and has hosted the annual charity event since 2002. With the success of the tournament, preliminary plans are currently underway for a second wiffle ballpark, “Little Wrigley.”

For more information about this event, please contact Marge Oppold at 802-434-3740 or vtinfo@travisroyfoundation.org. For more information about the Travis Roy Foundation, please visit us online at www.travisroyfoundation.org or call Jana Spaulding at (617) 699-8106.

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