A new sporting sensation is hitting Atria Mulberry Estates this summer as the retirement home announced that it has fielded its own baseball team — of the beanbag variety — to compete with its sister organization in Regina.
The home’s beanbag baseball team, the Mulberry Estates Giants, practice amongst themselves and compete for the occasional friendly tournament.
“We have a team of 10 players, and we sometimes go to Regina’s Queen Victoria Estates and then we verse them in a beanbag baseball tournament,” said Sydney Azure, the engage life co-ordinator for Atria Mulberry Estates in Moose Jaw.
The game, she explained, is similar to cornhole but is played with a specialized game board containing bases, foul zones, and is set up to resemble a baseball diamond.
Matches, she said, aren’t overly competitive although winners do receive medals and a trophy.
“It’s (played) for fun, and (our athletes) interact with other residents and different communities…,” Azure said. “Everyone always loves to meet up with Regina’s team and converse with them. Usually, they’ll have lunch, chat, and catch up a bit, then we’ll do our game and we’ll either have ice cream or happy hour after so it’s a good… half-day road trip.”
The league is part of Atria Mulberry Estates’ goal of keeping seniors active and resulted from some of the retirement community’s in-house developments.
“I think (the inspiration was from the) suggestion of residents, and then (we) also teamed up with the other engage life co-ordinator in Regina and then we plan based on that,” Azure said.
The league doesn’t hold many tournaments, and this is largely due to a limited pool of only one other team to compete with. “Since I’ve started here (around one month ago) we’ve only really had two games,” Azure said, adding that Regina’s team has come to Moose Jaw and vice versa one time each in the past month.
“Just whenever we have the time and we can plan it and co-ordinate (both teams) is when we do it,” she added.
To prepare for the next match, the team’s 10 players hold regular practices twice each week and everyone at Mulberry Estates is invited to join in during these sessions.
The game has been so popular that it has its own cheerleading complement comprised of supporting residents. “We usually have five (cheerleaders) that come with us, just because that’s how much the bus can hold, but then we probably have upwards of 10 to 15 (back at home).”
So far, Moose Jaw’s team has plenty of lost ground to make up for as they’ve been served a close defeat on the past two exhibition games.
“I think both teams are good — it’s usually a pretty close game, so it just kind of depends on the day…,” Azure said after attending the previous two matches.
“Usually, we end up trailing a little bit behind, and then at the end we come right back up and then it’s always close.”
Due to the game’s irregular schedule, Azure wasn’t able to confirm the time and date for the next tournament but this can probably be expected sometime in October.
“It really brings lots of social connection, which is very helpful to our communities and our seniors… and (it) also brings that physical activity (to their lifestyle) as well as social connection and stimulation,” she said.
Azure said she isn’t aware of any plans to expand the game at this point, but anyone interested in joining the league can reach out to the home for more information.
Atria Mulberry Estates is located at 220 Mulberry Lane and can be reached at for more information.
