Community wiffle ball tournament honors Duke Ommert, supports foundation

More than 20 teams played in a weekend wiffle ball tournament that honored 10-year-old Duke Ommert and raised money for the Do Like Duke Foundation. The event had the feel of a full bracket day, but its larger purpose was fixed from the start, to turn a game into direct support for the foundation created in Duke’s memory.

Duke Ryan Ommert, a fourth-grader at Brookwood Elementary in Leawood, Kansas, died on Oct. 23, 2025, eight days after being struck by a vehicle while riding an electric scooter on Oct. 13. Leawood Police later said the driver’s actions were “not a contributing factor” in the fatal crash. Those details gave the tournament its emotional weight, because every inning carried the memory of a child whose death had already mobilized family, classmates, and neighbors.

By Oct. 26, 2025, Duke’s family had created the Do Like Duke Foundation to honor his life. The foundation’s name has become the through line for the memorial effort, and the wiffle ball tournament functioned as one of its clearest fundraising engines. Team entries, spectator attention, and the buzz around the bracket all fed the same goal, giving the family a practical way to channel grief into support.

Wiffle ball fit that mission better than most sports. The game’s backyard roots and low barrier to entry made it accessible to players of different ages and skill levels, which helped the tournament draw a broad field and kept the day rooted in participation rather than exclusivity. That openness mattered for a fundraiser built around a child remembered for kindness and service, because the format allowed the community to show up on the field, not just in the stands.

The tournament also pointed to a broader pattern around Duke’s legacy. In March 2026, the Do Like Duke Foundation partnered with ShareWaves for a March Gladness youth event, and a separate RADS Wiffle Ball Tournament was listed as benefiting the foundation and open to all ages. Together, those events show how Duke’s name has become attached to repeated sports gatherings that keep raising money while keeping his story in play.