Donors stand by BIRT Cup following cancellation

Torrential rain kept golfers off the course at the 2026 BIRT Cup last Friday, but the Brandon University Bobcats still managed to raise $85,000 for student-athletes and local charities.

“That was one of the more disheartening moments that I’ve ever been a part of when we knew the tournament wasn’t going to be able to proceed,” BIRT Cup tournament chairperson Tyler Crayston said of the cancellation. “We had such a tremendous day lined up, a spectacle to be quite honest … There were some tears for sure, and it’s just unfortunate that we weren’t able to get people what they so richly deserved.”

Established in 2008 by Brandon University Bobcats alumni Scott Hlady and Dwayne Gylywoychuk, the BIRT Cup — so named by Hlady’s baseball coach Neil Andrews as an acronym for basics, intensity, respect and team — is an event that aims to raise funds for BU athletics and local charities.

Since 2018, BU Athletics has organized the BIRT Cup and raised more than half a million dollars in that time. The 2024 BIRT Cup set a record, raising $100,000 in a single event.

The 2026 BIRT Cup was the first year of a five-year partnership deal between the tournament and Sunrise Credit Union, the new title sponsor for the event.

This year’s event faced difficulty from the start.

Originally set to occur on July 3, the date was pushed back due to rain. A week later they were thwarted by construction work at Wheat City Golf Course in response to the flooding from the Assiniboine River throughout the summer.

“Back in May, the river started rising and we’ve been battling heavy rains and high river levels all season. When they get to a certain point, the water seeps in and we just have a really hard time keeping up with the pumping and getting water off quicker than it’s coming in,” said Dave Scinocca, head professional at Wheat City Golf Course.

This is the ninth straight year the Wheat City Golf Club has hosted the BIRT Cup. Given the issues, it would have been understandable if Crayston and his team pivoted to another venue, but they stuck it out with their longtime partner.

“Obviously we’re super disappointed. We tried our hardest to pull this off,” said Scinocca. “We just want to commend the BIRT Cup and Ty Crayston and Russ Paddock for sticking with us at Wheat City. We did lose some other tournaments earlier to other golf courses in the area and the BIRT Cup chose to stick with us and we really appreciate that. Means a lot.”

After two false starts, Crayston and his crew knew Friday was their final kick at the can. They had one last shot to hold the event they’d been planning for a year. Once again, Mother Nature got in the way.

“Right in front of our eyes things completely fell apart due to the relentless rain,” said Crayston. “Pivoting was tough because we had prizes out here, we had food prepared we had this we had that. We’re still pivoting is the best way to put it, I guess.”

All they could do was make the best of a bad situation. Crayston and his team did what they could to alleviate the issues imposed by the cancellation while putting on a brave face.

“The crew was amazing,” said Big Brothers Big Sisters of Westman executive director Ashley Taron, who was in attendance on Friday. “It was cold, but you know, everybody who was here was having a great time.”

Crayston and his crew feared that without an event some of the sponsors might ask for their money back. Not only would that take money away from charitable organizations, but BU athletes as well.

As it turned out, his fears were unfounded. Not a single individual or business asked for a refund.

“That solidified it for me,” said Crayston. “I had a notion that it meant a lot, but now it’s solidified tenfold that this tournament means an awful lot to people and for that, I’ll be incredibly grateful for as long as I walk this earth.”

As Crayston says, the event is much more than a golf tournament. Every hole had a different game or contest with the winner going home with a prize. For example, there was a contest scheduled for hole 16 that would grant the winner of the “football throw” two tickets to see the Winnipeg Blue Bombers plus a one-night stay at the Radisson.

There was also a silent auction in which Scotiabank was set to match all sales of up to $3,000.

The six local organizations receiving funding from the BIRT Cup this year were: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Westman, Cartwright’s Mac Robinson Community Centre, Elkhorn District Community Centre, KidSport Westman Region, the Wawanesa Curling Club and the Wheat City Wrangler Lacrosse Association.

Getting this money is huge for these organizations. Taron says that Big Brothers Big Sisters of Westman gets its funding in large part due to the haunted house fundraiser it holds in October. That makes up a third of their yearly budget.

“This is a game changer for us and just really increases the number of kids we can serve in the Westman area,” said Taron. “We’ve done some work in the background recently and figured out that for each match it costs approximately $2,500 a year.”

She says the money the group receives from the BIRT Cup will go towards funding group programming for the kids that are on the waitlist.

“There are currently about 50 kids waiting for mentors,” said Taron.

While there couldn’t be a BIRT Cup this year, the spirit of the event has been preserved through the efforts of Crayston and his staff. It has always been about raising money for good causes and having fun while doing it.

A group of BU athletes, executives from the different charities gathered together at tee box of the first hole at the Wheat City Golf Course. While there was a lack of fanfare, everyone was excited to be there to mark the occasion and celebrate the large sum of money raised by this year’s BIRT Cup.

Crayston himself had doubts about continuing with the event after the way this year unfolded. Now, he says he is more motivated that ever to keep pushing to ensure the tournament can thrive in the future.

“(It) absolutely warms our hearts to be able to support different causes in the region. Since this tournament started, that’s been the heart and soul behind it. It helps people, it supports people, it moves projects and organizations forward in a positive way,” said Crayston. “When Friday’s rain hit, I was worried it was going to be $8 not $85,000. That’s what the tournament is about. Helping people; and that’s never going to change.”

» rmccarthy@brandonsun.com