GLENDALE, AZ - Saturday, April 22, 2006 was a beautiful day for a softball tournament at Victory Lane with clear blue skies and temperatures in the high seventies. It was also two years to the day that Pat Tillman lost his life half a world away in eastern Afghanistan in 2004.

Arizonans and sports fans knew Pat Tillman as an Arizona State Sun Devil and then as a member of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. His decision to give up football (with a $3.6 million contract) to join the Army in 2002 caught the attention of a lot of people. Pat Tillman was killed in 2004, but his family was so inspired by his life, by the person he was, that they created the Pat Tillman Foundation.

The Pat Tillman Foundation was created by the Tillman family following Pat’s death. As a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, the Foundation’s goal and mission is to carry Pat’s legacy forward by inspiring people to make positive changes in themselves and in the world around them. This will be accomplished through the implementation of a program called Leadership Through Action.

The Leadership Through Action Program provides the inspiration, tools and experience to help tomorrow’s leaders identify problems and social ills that touch them, develop potential solutions to those problems, test the solutions and ultimately implement those solutions with funding from the foundation or community. A key element of the program is that it involves today’s leaders who participate and give back by serving as instructors, mentors and coaches_creating a network of leaders.

Visit the Pat Tillman Foundation website at www.pattillmanfoundation.net to learn more about the program, the Foundation and Pat Tillman. Go to the ‘Get Involved’ section to check out ‘Team Tillman’, ‘Pat’s Run’ or ‘Purchase A Jersey’.

A portion of the proceeds from the Pat Tillman Benefit Tournament presented by Tournament Sports and Miken was donated to the Pat Tillman Foundation. More than 70 teams gathered to compete at Victory Lane Sports Complex with 38 Men’s, 12 Women’s and 23 Coed teams.

Mike’s 12 Pack from Clarkdale won the championship in the men’s ‘D’ division, with Phoenix’s Los Diablos as runners-up. The men’s ‘DII’ champions were Hot Boyz of Phoenix and Glendale’s Team Chaos placed second. Gil’s Twelve Pack of Phoenix took first place in the men’s ‘E’ division and Stay Smashin’, also of Phoenix, came in second.

The Other Team of Chandler took top honors in the women’s ‘DI’ division, with Phoenix’s Nacho Mamas taking second place. The women’s ‘DII’ championship was won by Las Comadres and AZ Sports from Mesa were the runners-up.

Coed Upper Division champs were DWI of Glendale, while Phoenix’s Strokin/Manuel’s took second. Lost Cause from Glendale took first place in the coed ‘DII’ division over runners-up Rude Awakening from Surprise. Litchfield Park’s MWSN won the championship in the first coed ‘DI’ division, with second place going to Phoenix’s Plutonium. In the second coed ‘D’I division, Chaos took first place over fellow Phoenix team Mixed Nuts. RBI/Trouble from Glendale earned first place in the coed ‘E’ division and second went to Phoenix’s Caught Looking.