Softball players and fans come out to remember Sarah Beth

JACKSON, Tenn. — Hundreds of softball players from across West Tennessee are playing for a very special reason this week.  They’re raising money and awareness for a deadly virus, bacterial Meningitis.

 The Sarah Beth Whitehead Memorial High School Softball Tournament began at the West Tennessee Healthcare Sportsplex, Thursday.

The tournament’s namesake, Sarah Beth Whitehead, contracted bacterial Meningitis in 2005.

Her friends remember the 14-year-old’s quick illness.  On Monday, March 7, 2005, she was playing in her church league’s championship game but didn’t seem herself.  By Wednesday, March 9, she was in the emergency room and soon after was flown to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville.  Within hours, she would be pronounced brain dead.  It took just four days for Meningitis to take Sarah Beth’s life.

“Meningitis is a harsh disease that is vaccine-preventable,” said John Whitehead, Sarah Beth’s father.  He said he wants parents and students to be aware especially before they head off to college.

The memorial tournament began in 2008 with 14 teams.  It was the brainchild of a family friend of the Whiteheads, Ricky Yates.  Now in its eighth year, 32 teams are playing.

The 2016 tournament runs from  March 17 th through the 19th.

The tournament is hosted by the city.  But proceeds from t-shirts that are sold at the event are used for a scholarship for a senior at Trinity Christian Academy and for a donation to the National Meningitis Association.