The Chance Crawford Benefit Softball Tournament is back this weekend with 200 teams from eight states vying for a variety of championships on April 11-13.
This year’s event also marks the tournament’s much anticipated return to its home base at the newly renovated Moyer Sports Complex in Salem. A total of 21 fields throughout Virginia’s Blue Ridge region will be used to make the three-day tournament a reality, including the Botetourt Sports Complex in Daleville, which anchored the tournament while renovations were completed in Salem. Games also will be played on diamonds at the Salem Civic Center, Arnold R. Burton, Whispering Pines, Wasena Park, Huff Lane, Norwich Field, Fallon Park, and Oakey Field.
The 2025 tournament will feature the following divisions – Men’s Upper, Men’s D, Men’s E, Men’s Recreation, Men’s 40-plus, Women’s Division and Coed. In addition, a homerun derby and a cookout will officially kick off the weekend for participants on Friday, April 11.
“I continue to be amazed and profoundly humbled that after 40-plus years the tournament can still create this kind of interest,” said Chance Crawford, the tournament’s namesake. “The Salem community never ceases to amaze me, and the fact that people throughout the Roanoke Valley support our efforts is very gratifying.”
In the tournament’s four decades of existence, organizers have collected nearly a million dollars and put that money right back into the community. Individuals with health problems, as well as deserving college students who need financial assistance have benefited immensely. These funds are also used to help support youth sports throughout the greater Roanoke Valley.
In 2024, the foundation distributed $32,000 in scholarships and donations to deserving individuals and families. In addition, the tournament provides a welcome boost to the local economy. In 2024, just over 3,000 players, coaches, umpires, and officials spent 2,090 total nights in hotel rooms in the valley. Hotels and motels in Salem, Roanoke, Botetourt County, and Roanoke County benefited from participants staying in over 46 different hotels, 9 homes, and a campground.
The Chance Crawford Softball Tournament began in the spring of 1981 to help a young Salem High School quarterback, Chance Crawford, who suffered a spinal cord injury during one of his football games. The purpose of the original event was to raise money to help Chance and his family with the expenses of his education, physical therapy, and other medical needs due to his injury. After Chance graduated from college, he was elected Clerk of Court for the City of Salem and the Chance Crawford Tournament Committee decided to continue the tournament in his honor but use the proceeds from the tournament to help those in need in the community with their own medical and education expenses.
“I will forever be grateful for what was done for me and continues to be done for so many others,” said Crawford. “I know the good Lord has been there every step of the way.”
