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The folks at the city of Harlan Tourism are working on bringing a coed slow-pitch softball tournament to Huff Park for the enjoyment of all.

Tierra Sundy is in charge of organizing the tournament, which is scheduled for August 19.

According to Sundy, the idea to have a softball tournament came about through her participation in coed softball.

“We travel to Tennessee, Virginia and other places and I thought it would be a good idea to bring a tournament to Harlan and bring those people into our town,” Sundy explained.

The tournament is now open for teams to register. The tournament is for adult players.

“It’s for people 18 years old and older,” Sundy said.

The biggest purpose of the tournament is for the fun of it, explained Harlan Tourism Downtown Development and Event Coordinator Laura Adkisson. The tournament is expected to give downtown tourism a boost.

“For tourism, it helps bring people in that are eating in our local restaurants, visiting other shops, and hopefully booking a stay to come and be part of the tournament,” Adkisson said. “It’s just another good reason to come downtown and be in the city of Harlan.”

The event organizers are looking for several teams to sign up to participate.

“For a great tournament, it would be ideal to have at least 16 teams,” Sundy said. “We are doing a women’s tournament also on the softball field, and we’re going to do the coed tournament on the baseball field.”

The tournament will be an all-day event, beginning at 10 a.m. at Huff Park. The games will be held on a timed schedule.

“The games will last either seven innings or about an hour and 15 minutes,” Sundy said.

The tournament will also feature concessions and possibly a vendor or two.

“We’re going to try to have popcorn, hot dogs, cotton candy, and, of course, cold drinks,” Sundy said. “We also will be offering home run bracelets for $10. If you purchase a home run bracelet, you can hit unlimited home runs throughout the whole tournament. If they aren’t purchased, the team itself can only hit five home runs per game.”

Registration forms are available at the Harlan Center, located at 201 Main Street in downtown Harlan. Teams must register by August 14. There is a $20 per person registration fee. The grand prize for first place will be $500 and a trophy.

For more information, call the Harlan Center at 606-573-4156.

“This is a new event we’re offering in downtown Harlan,” Adkisson said. “The more people that come out to participate, spectate and support it, the more often people will see things like this happen in our community.”