2026 TR24 wiffle ball tournament carries Travis Roy legacy forward

The 2026 TR24 Legacy WIFFLE Ball Tournament brought players back to Little Fenway Complex in Essex, Vermont, on June 27, with the day running from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and the event once again tied to the Travis Roy name that has defined Vermont wiffle-ball fundraising for decades. What made the gathering matter was not only the bracket at a purpose-built diamond, but the cause behind every inning, because the tournament fed a grant program aimed at people living with spinal cord injury and the costs insurance often leaves behind.

Little Fenway gave the event its familiar stage. The complex was built in 2001 by Pat O’Connor and friends, then purchased by SLAMT1D in 2022 to preserve the site for nonprofits and protect the legacy of one of the region’s signature wiffle-ball venues. That setting matters in a sport where the field is part of the attraction, and Little Fenway has become a destination as much as a ballpark, a place where nostalgia and competition share the same dirt.

The fundraising path is direct. SCIboston’s Travis Roy Legacy Grant Program assists people with paraplegia or quad/tetraplegia caused by a spinal cord injury or disorder who demonstrate financial need, and grants can reach $5,000. The money can go toward durable medical equipment or vehicle modifications, including hospital beds, shower chairs, assistive technology, wheelchairs and wheelchair-related equipment. That gives the tournament a practical edge: the runs, outs and road trips in Essex are linked to purchases that can change daily life long after the final inning.

The legacy behind the event remains enormous. The Travis Roy Foundation’s final in-person wiffle-ball tournament was held August 13-15, 2021, and raised a record $1,192,238, pushing the 20-year fundraising total past $7.5 million. SCIboston was still recruiting volunteers for the TR24 Legacy Wiffleball Tournament Planning Committee in May, a sign that the event continued to operate as a hands-on community production, not just a ceremonial tribute.

Brenda Roy captured that continuity in the grant program release: “We are thrilled that Travis’ legacy will live on with this grant program.” At Little Fenway, that legacy stayed tethered to a familiar summer format, one that turns a wiffle-ball tournament into sustained help for people who need equipment, modifications and support that can make everyday movement possible.