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In mid-April the Utah High School Activities Association canceled all remaining spring sports school related activities. Now, coaches are searching and finding ways to provide closure for student-athletes through unsanctioned tournaments.

The first tournament of its kind that will included teams from the Castle Country area is the “Corona Invitational”, a softball tournament that will be held in Carbon County at the softball complex.

Led by Carbon High School coach Wade Williams, the tournament will start Saturday, June 6 and run through June 13. Invitations were extended to all 3A schools, hoping to provide the closest replica to state tournament as possible.

“Once everything was shutdown I didn’t have much to do. So I started thinking about what I could do for the seniors,” said coach Williams. “The day after the state dropped back down to yellow we had everything in the background ready to go. With the help of Carbon Recreation, off we went.”

The tournament itself will not be sanctioned by the UHSAA. But it will give teams an opportunity to practice with one another and experience one last competitive setting. That alone has created excitement throughout the classification.

Out of the 18 schools that hold a spot in the 3A classification, 12 are expected to compete in the true double-elimination format. The games will begin on June 6 and the remaining teams will continue to compete on June 12 and 13. Each participating team is guaranteed a minimum of three games.

“We wanted at least a three-game guarantee just because of how far some teams have to travel,” said Williams. “As I talk with coaches we all wanted to do this for the seniors. The recreation department will provide t-shirts for the top three teams.”

Joining Carbon in the tournament will coach Shaun Bell and the Emery Lady Spartans. Like Carbon, the Lady Spartans began organized practices earlier this week in preparation for the season finale competition.

“We have four seniors and they are way excited to get going,” said Bell. “We had 14 girls at practice already this week. There are guidelines that we need to follow, including social distancing. But, the girls are just excited to be back together.”

Teams will continue to practice throughout the remainder of the week, now that the memorial day moratorium is complete. There will be regulations for spectators who attend the games.

Stay tuned to Castle Country Radio for a complete bracket and schedule when the teams and logistics are finalized for the tournament.

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