2026 Ryan Whitney Memorial Wiffle Ball Tournament: 51 Teams Played for Teen Mental Wellness

Ryan Whitney loved backyard wiffle ball. He played it with his little brother Jake the same way he played everything: with grit, a lot of heart, and plenty of trash talk. So this Labor Day, just days after what would have been Ryan's 17th birthday, we did what felt right. We filled Home Field Baseball Complex with 51 teams and played ball in his honor.

Ryan was my son's best friend. We lost him to suicide in December 2024, when he was just 15. I have watched his family, his friends, and our entire community carry that loss, and I have watched them refuse to let it be the end of his story. The 2nd Annual Ryan Whitney Memorial Wiffle Ball Tournament is one of the ways they keep writing it.

Why We Play Every Labor Day

Ryan's birthday is September 1. The first tournament was held on that day in 2025, which happened to fall on Labor Day. That is why the tournament will always be held on Labor Day moving forward. When Ryan's mom, Tiffany Whitney, started it, she wanted his birthday marked with joy instead of sorrow. She also wanted it to do something. Every part of the day is built to carry Ryan's legacy forward, raise awareness around teen mental wellness, point families toward real resources, and break the stigma that keeps so many kids quiet when they are struggling.

That mission is the same one Fight Club was built on. After Ryan passed, Tiffany helped launch a Fight Club group for his brother and closest friends so none of them would have to grieve alone. You can read that story in Carrying Ryan's Spirit Forward. Today, every dollar this tournament raises goes directly to Fight Club and our peer support groups across the Kansas City metro.

"This tournament will always be about more than wiffle ball. It is about Ryan."
Tiffany Whitney, Ryan's mom

Year Two: 51 Teams on Labor Day

Three Divisions and a Lot of Heat

This year's tournament brought together middle school, high school, and college age teams. Squads of five battled through a double elimination bracket from the first pitch of the morning until the final out. It was hot. Really hot. Nobody seemed to care.

Kids Being Kids

If you ask anyone who was there what the best part of the day was, you will hear some version of the same answer: watching kids be kids. Teens were competing, laughing, arguing over close calls, and spending real time together face to face instead of through a screen. That kind of connection matters more than most people realize. It is the same thing that happens every week inside a Fight Club group.

Ryan was always pushing his friends to "Be A DAWG." That spirit was on every field all day long.

Teen Mental Wellness, Built Into the Day

The Mental Wellness Bingo Card

Something new this year was a mental wellness bingo card. Players and families visited the resource booths set up around the complex, and each booth they stopped at filled a square. Completed cards were entered into a raffle, and the kids absolutely loved winning prizes.

The prizes got them to the booths. What they walked away with mattered more. A lot of young people left that day knowing exactly where to turn if they, or a friend, ever start to struggle.

Why Resources Belong on the Field

Breaking the stigma around mental wellness does not happen in a pamphlet. It happens when those conversations show up in the places teens already are: the ballfield, the locker room, the group chat, the backyard. That is why we believe in bringing resources to the kids instead of waiting for the kids to find them.

If you or a teen in your life needs support right now, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day by call or text. You do not have to wait until it feels like an emergency to reach out.

The day also featured a silent auction, with every bid going straight back to the mission.

The People Who Made It Happen

Our 2026 Sponsors

This was the first year the tournament welcomed corporate sponsors, and their generosity made a real difference. Thank you for believing in this day and in the teens it serves.

Triple Play Sponsors: 5BY5 Engineers, Fry Orthodontics, and Hy-Vee

Double Sponsors: BCWM, Cornerstone Bank, KCSN Foundation, and Olathe South Boys Basketball

Single Sponsors: Mike and Gina Robinson, Kristin Teasdale and the Building Champions 14U baseball team, The Baseball Lab, and Absolute Retirement Solutions

A special thank you to Scheels for their support as well.

Our Volunteers

This tournament simply does not happen without the people who give up their holiday weekend. Our volunteers set up fields Sunday afternoon and again early Monday morning. They checked in teams, umpired games, kept scores and brackets moving, ran concessions, and cleaned up after the last game. They did all of it in the heat, and we are so grateful.

To every player, parent, family member, donor, and friend who spent Labor Day with us: thank you for showing up for Ryan, and thank you for showing up for our kids.

Be Part of Ryan's Story

The tournament will be back next Labor Day, and we hope you will be there. In the meantime, there are plenty of ways to carry this mission forward. If you have a teen who needs a place to belong, find a Fight Club group near you. If you want to bring peer support to your school or community, learn how to start a group. And if you want to help more teens find the kind of connection we saw on those fields, you can support Fight Club today.

Because this tournament will always be about more than wiffle ball. It is about Ryan, and it is about making sure every kid knows that no one fights alone.

Fight Club is a space where young adults can openly talk about the issues they're facing, without judgment or pressure. Have questions or want to learn more about Fight Club? We're here to help. Whether you're looking to join, a parent seeking more information, or someone interested in supporting our mission, don't hesitate to reach out.