If you see a bunch of youngsters in blue or purple baseball jerseys livening up Mandela Circle Saturday while selling bottles of water, it’s the St. Thomas Explorers baseball team drumming up funds to finance their big tournament starting Jan. 18 on St. Croix.
The youngsters are playing the third leg of a tri-island tournament between St. Thomas, St. Croix and Puerto Rico. This is the first year of the V.I. Puerto Rico Friendship Tournament, and the St. Thomas team is hoping to make it an annual event.
If the enthusiasm of Explorers president Michael Bute and club secretary Tami Noel is any indication, the future of the event is certain.
Bute has led the Explorers since its inception in 1996. "It’s my world, my second life," he says while talking about the club’s many trips to the states where they’ve played in tournaments in Atlanta, North Carolina and at Disney World ESPN in Orlando.
But this tournament is the big one for now.
Noel is excited about the prospects for earning not only enough for the St. Croix games, but for future summer travel. And they have a double incentive for raising funds.
Noel, the owner of Red Hook Agencies, has pledged her company to match whatever the Explorers collect, as has Rotary Club of St. Thomas Sunrise.
Noel said, "The most we’ve ever made from a water sale is $1,300, so it we make that times three, wow, that would be wonderful!"
The youngsters will be at Mandela Circle from about 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Noel said, "The water is a dollar a bottle, and if anyone wants to donate more, that would be just fine."
The games will be played at the D. C. Canegata ballpark on St. Croix starting with two games the evening of Jan. 18, six games Jan. 19, and two final games Jan. 20.
