Brooker: tourney was success

Mike Brooker can finally take a deep breath and relax.

Brooker has just completed his first stint as tournament director of the Senior League World Series at Mansfield Stadium.

The Senior League World Series for 15-16 year-olds will be held in Bangor the next four years so Brooker and the Mansfield Stadium committee will meet and evaluate this year’s event sometime soon.

Bangor has a five-year agreement with Little League Incorporated, with the only stipulation being that the tournament be “financially solvent” without major complications according to the 46-year-old Brooker.

The 10-team event which featured teams from as far away as Moscow, the Philippines and Curacao, “exceeded expectations” as far as Brooker is concerned.

“When we first got this, I hoped we’d be able to put 400 to 500 in the stadium,” said Brooker. “We had better than 2,000 for a couple of games. We’d even get 500-600 for the 10 a.m. games. We had better than 1500 for every 8:00 [p.m.] game. We had hoped to draw 8,000-10,000 [total] for the tournament but we drew between 20,000-25,000.

“We had outstanding support from the community and the volunteers,” added Brooker.

“We wanted to provide an opportunity for local kids to excel on an international stage and they were able to do that. We wanted to be able to show that Bangor could put on a first-class event on an international stage and we were able to do that,” said Brooker.

Bangor’s team went 1-3 but two losses were by a total of three runs.

The committee’s operating budget for the tournament was $87,000 and Brooker said they expect to make a “five-figure” profit.

That money will go into the Senior League World Series bank account and will be used for future series.

“If we eventually have a significant balance in there and wanted to do a capital improvement to the stadium or the park, we could request permission from Little League Incorporated and they would approve or disapprove it,” said Brooker whose “top priority would be more seating.”

Little League Incorporated took care of all the travel expenses for the teams and also provided the uniforms, jackets, T-shirts and hats.

The players kept the jackets, T-shirts and hats but they had to return the uniforms.

They also received diplomas and pins.

Brooker and his tournament committee housed and fed the teams in addition to supplying the field and a trip to Bar Harbor.

It cost the committee $27 per day per team member for a dormitory room and meals at Bangor’s Husson College.

But Brooker said some of the visiting players wound up spending a lot of their time at their parents’ hotel rooms.

“We can’t allow that to happen in the future. We’re responsible for those kids. And we want to make sure there’s a level playing field for everybody and they’re all living under the same conditions,” said Brooker. “Once the Little League World Series [10-12 year-olds] teams arrive at Williamsport, Pa., that’s where they stay for the week.”

Husson’s dorms don’t have air conditioning but people in the community bought fans for the players.

There were eight sponsors who supplied them with at least $5,000 apiece and 22 more at the “1,000 or above level.” There were dozens in the $100-$500 range, according to Brooker.

Sponsors have already inquired about getting involved with next year’s event.

Larry Mahoney can be reached at 990-8231 or by email at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.