Even though 18 teams converged on the Big Valley ball diamonds last weekend to take part in the slo-pitch tournament, there were some teams that were participating as a family tradition — teams that were made up of family members and close friends.
Stettler's Super Swamper Vampires was one such team, made up of three generations of Greiners – Miles Greiner, Denny Greiner, Clint Greiner, Christie Greiner, Ava Greiner, Brad Greiner, Shauna Elines (sister), Matt Elines, Hannah Elines, Eric Elines.
"We grew watching dad and mom play slo-pitch in southern Saskatchewan in the '80s in the little village called Congress," recalled Clint Greiner. "We all started playing at a young age and couldn't wait till the day we were allowed to join the adults on the big field. That was usually around 12-years-old."
Greiner reflected that they continued the tradition when they moved to Stettler in 1992. "We played in many tournaments around central Alberta and made it to provincials and nationals a couple of times," added Greiner. "We even went to Worlds in Phoenix in 2001."
Over the years the Greiners had a lot of "great times" playing ball as a family, but in 2013 they decided to call it a day because of younger children and limited time.
However, this year with many of the third generation Greiners already playing ball, they realized it was time to give it another go.
"After four years off of playing ball we all decided to try playing again because now the grandchildren are ready to start playing," explained Greiner. "For this tournament, we went in with no expectation of winning, but we made it to the finals."
Greiner said that all the old legs were pretty sore by the end of the weekend, "but it was a great time with old and new family members." Greiner added. "It was a great way to spend some quality time together."
Most people can recollect a season of great success when looking back and for the Greiners, there too have been high points.
"One highlight that sticks out is when there was a stretch of two years where we didn't lose a game," Greiner recalled. "Twelve tournaments in a row. We had a lot of great times together. Looking back, I would say the biggest highlights were just simply making great memories with family and some great friends along the way."