Annual Oceanside charity baseball tournament set for Sept. 21

Two years ago, fourteen-year-old Oceansider Jeremy Feder joined with the Oceanside Little League to organize a youth charity baseball tournament to benefit America’s veterans, and this year, starting on Sept. 21 and stretching through Sept. 23, the Jeremy Feder All-Star Charity Baseball Tournament returns, with the opening ceremony to take place on Wright’s Field.

All proceeds raised from the tournament will be donated to America’s VetDogs, a Smithtown-based non-profit organization that provides professionally trained service dogs at no cost to disabled veterans and first responders. The organization assists veterans on Long Island and around the nation. Over the past two years, the tournament has raised nearly $11,500 for the organization.

Feder said the tournament started as an idea for his Bar Mitzvah’s “mitzvah” project, and grew into an annual community event. “I hope we can raise a lot more money this year for such an important cause,” he said.

The tournament will consist of youth baseball teams from the greater Long Island area, who will be playing on Oceanside fields throughout the tournament. The cost to enter the tournament is $500 per team. These fees, as well as corporate donations and proceeds from raffles sold at the tournament’s opening night and during the weekend will go directly to the charity.

“This is a wonderful fundraiser that Oceanside Little League is proud to be co-hosting for the third year in a row,” said Tom Collins, president of the OLL. “This special event is so important, and brings out the best in our community.”

Feder, a catcher, has helped others through baseball before. After having been picked for Oceanside’s Williamsport baseball team, Collins, his former coach, asked Jeremy to assist him in coaching younger children starting out on the field. Feder also volunteered at age 10 to help coach the Challenger division of nearby Long Beach Little League — a division for developmentally disabled ball players.

Feder turned his interest towards veterans when he joined Oceanside Middle School’s patriots club in 2016, and subsequently chose America’s VetDogs to benefit from the tournament. Members of both the OMS and Oceanside High School Patriot Clubs will be volunteering at the tournament’s opening night events. Students will be receiving community service credits for their involvement. Last year, about 30 students volunteered their time.

“We thought this tournament was a great fit for America’s VetDogs. It’s original and allows kids to have fun while helping a good cause,” said Katherine Fritz, director of development for America’s VetDogs. “Everything we raise from community events helps those wounded veterans whose quality of life will be dramatically improved by having a service dog assist them in their everyday activities.”

Compiled by Peter Belfiore