All 20 lanes of the Minto Rec Centre were packed with bowlers on Sunday, during the fourth annual Gutter Ball Classic KidSport fundraiser.
Adding a special flavour to the afternoon were Saskatchewan Roughriders Jordan Sisco and Chris Best, who enthusiastically signed autographs and mingled with participants throughout the event.
“KidSport does a lot of excellent work up here helping children, so the opportunity came up to do some help up here, so we just jumped at it,” Best said between autographs.
KidSport representative Katie Thebaud said that all money raised during the Gutter Ball Classic stays in Prince Albert, where it goes toward helping local kids participate in activities.
“They apply for registration fees and equipment costs, and we allocate more than 100 kids per year, and they have a chance to play sports,” she explained.
“I was lucky enough that my parents were able to kind of foot the bill. Me and two brothers -- I don’t know how they managed it, but they did it somehow,” Best said.
“I know teammates of mine were less fortunate, and they had to funds like that … so it’s (been) a great program for a long time.”
The fundraising goal behind Sunday’s event was to raise $10,000, eclipsing last year’s $7,300, but by press time Sunday a total had yet to be finalized.
With the Minto Rec Centre full to capacity, Thebaud said that things looked promising.
The next big KidSport event in Prince Albert will take place at the Cooke Municipal Golf Course in June, with a golf tournament and banquet scheduled.
