The Parochial Athletic League (PAL) announces its first golf tournament, set for Tuesday, May 14, at Oak Creek Golf Club in Irvine. The event will start at 10:30 a.m. with registration and lunch and it will conclude with dinner, presentations, auction, and opportunity drawings at 6 p.m.
“The gist of the tournament is to bring our community of schools together in a spirit of celebration and unity and to raise funds to improve the league’s focus on education-based athletics and the education of the whole child,” said Russ Smith, director of PAL and diocesan director of elementary school athletics.
Two families and a foundation will be honored at the tournament dinner: the Abeyta family, the Marrujo family, and Thomas and Katie Haynes Memorial Foundation.
The Abeyta family is being honored for their service over the years in running and organizing the Mission Classic Basketball Tournament along with the Knights of Columbus from Blessed Sacrament parish. PAL honors the Marrujo family who has run and continues to run tournaments for decades through the St. Barbara School Booster group at Servite High School, Cornelia Connelly High School and at St. Barbara School. Finally, PAL selects Thomas and Katie Haynes Memorial Foundation as its third honoree for the Foundation’s commitment over the past 20 years to run a very successful basketball tournament at Sts. Simon and Jude School in Huntington Beach.
The Parochial Athletic League provides the elementary schools of the Diocese of Orange and its students an opportunity for friendly competition in sports with other schools within the boundaries of the Diocese. Students learn important lessons on self-esteem, fitness, and sportsmanship. Participation is open to
all students who qualify under the guidelines and regulations of the local school and the league.
“The league opens up a whole new adventure with different kids interacting with their friends at other schools,” Smith says. “When you’re a fifth-grader and you get to travel across town to play another school, that’s a big deal. It broadens their horizons about what’s out there athletically.”
For more information on the golf tournament, please contact Russ Smith at the Department of Catholic Schools at [email protected] or call 714-282-6074.