41st Annual Softball Tournament Brings Home Record $40,000 for Charity

University of Virginia School of Law students hosted teams from 39 law schools and raised $40,000 for charity over the weekend, a new record for the annual North Grounds Softball League Invitational.

NGSL will donate all the proceeds from the 41st iteration of the tournament to ReadyKids, a Charlottesville nonprofit that provides early childhood learning programs and other services for disadvantaged children.

Andrew Becker ’24 was this year’s NGSL commissioner, and Sally Levin ’24 and Grace Stevens ’24 were tournament directors. Luke Mottola ’25 was deputy tournament director, and second-year students Ginny Reams and Isabel Cook were head field monitors among the 180 volunteers.

Stevens said that setting a fundraising record — and donating it all to a nonprofit — made the entire weekend feel bigger than softball.

“I am proud that a primary purpose of the invitational is to give back to the local community that makes Charlottesville a great place to live for all of our UVA Law students, faculty and staff,” she added.

The Georgetown Aiders and Abatters defeated William & Mary Alumni to win the co-rec final, and LaRussa’s Lads bested Rational Bases Maize, from the University of Michigan, for the Open League title. With 13 dingers, William & Mary Alumni’s Nick Thompson — who played collegiate baseball for his alma mater and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals — won the home run derby, for which Dennis Ting ’24 and Nina Worth ’24 provided color commentary.

A game between UVA Co-Rec Blue and Columbia’s Trouble With the Curve kicked off the tournament, with opening pitches tossed by Dean Risa Goluboff and Trent and Val Wiseman, the brother and sister-in-law of Tessa Wiseman, a Class of 2024 student who died of cancer in August.

More than 1,100 law students journeyed to Charlottesville for the event, which featured 74 teams from law schools across the Eastern half of the United States, stretching from New England to Missouri to Florida. The neighboring Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School also fielded a team.

A large crowd of students cheered on UVA Co-Rec Blue in a competitive semifinal game, a moment that stood out as a highlight for the tournament directors.

The weekend “captures what makes UVA Law so special,” Levin said.

“As the visiting teams left Charlottesville to travel home on Sunday, we received so many messages telling us that this weekend is the highlight of the school year,” she said. “I’m so grateful to have been a part of continuing this meaningful tradition.”