Wayne's Wiffle for A Wish returns as Maine's largest tournament

Wayne's Wiffle for A Wish will return Saturday, Aug. 15, at Union Street Softball Fields in Bangor, where registration opens at 8 a.m. for the 18th annual tournament. Make-A-Wish Maine calls it the largest wiffle ball tournament in Maine, and every dollar raised goes to the chapter.

That charity identity is the point. The tournament is built around the line, "Come out and play a kid’s game for the kids," and the event site lists multiple adult divisions, a youth bracket for middle school grades 6-8 and sanctioned Wiffle play. Adult teams are $100 and youth teams are $50 before midnight July 31, with prices rising after that, and registration remains open through Saturday, Aug. 8.

The fundraising track record is already real, not theoretical. In 2024, the 16th annual tournament raised $23,000 after a $10,000 donation from Renewal by Anderson, and WABI said that total would support wishes for at least three Maine children. That kind of return is why Bangor keeps circling the date.

Wayne Harvey started the event after a family medical experience involving one of his daughters, and the tournament has stayed in Bangor long enough to move from its 13th year in 2021 to its 18th annual edition now. A June 7 update from the tournament site called it "the greatest day in the Maine Summer," and the phrase fits an event that has turned a simple game into a repeatable way to fund wishes, pull teams back each year and keep the scoreboard tied to something bigger than wins and losses.