As lockers and equipment are being moved into the new athletic facility at Vidalia high School, efforts to continue to furnish the new building are on going as, the first annual Jerry Roberts co-ed softball tournament will begin Friday at the Vidalia High Softball field.

The tournament is a fundraiser for the new athletic facility whose inception was brought on largely in part by the efforts of the late Jerry Roberts. Roberts fought to free up the funds that made the construction of the building possible, but unfortunately there was not much money left over to furnish the inside.

That is where the fundraisers have come in.

Earlier this winter Roberts’ son Graham organized a flag football tournament that raised approximately $4,000 for the building’s interior, and the preliminary signs of this tournament are looking to be just as successful.

“We’ve got 10 team’s signed up,” he said. “I am pretty excited about things, it is looking like it is going to be a good turnout.”

Graham Roberts said none of this would have happened if not for the organizational help he received from Greg Naquin.

Graham Roberts he would like to continue these fundraisers to help expand Vidalia High’s athletic facilities beyond a weight and locker room, but added he has yet to work out the specifics of which direction money raised in the future will head.

“We have got the lockers and weight equipment in, but we would to update some of that equipment,” he said.

Eventually Graham Roberts said he would like to help get a field house fund established.

“I would like to get this finished first, but there are some other that are also concerns that we would like to do,” he said.

The tournament will begin Friday at 7 p.m. for three games. It will resume Saturday morning and run until the tournament is concluded Saturday afternoon. For more information contact Greg Naquin at 318-336-5258 or Graham Roberts at 318-336-9616.

“It’s for a good cause. These facilities have need to be upgraded, and I am glad we have the opportunity to do that and have had such great support,” Graham Roberts said.