Ukrainian softball team gifted $1,400 by Canadian opponents during championship in B.C.

The Ukrainian Women’s Junior National Softball team in a photo handed out by the Canada Cup

Generosity is proving to be more important than winning at a softball championship underway in Surrey, B.C., where a team from Ukraine was gifted $1,400 from its defeated opponents.

The Ukrainian women’s junior softball team is participating in the 2023 Canada Cup after organizers of the competition raised $60,000 to bring players from the war-torn country to B.C.

On Thursday, six days after arriving from Ukraine, the team secured their first win at the tournament by defeating their Saskatchewan counterparts.

That victory was made even sweeter by a $1,400 donation from the Prairie Renegades, according to the tournament’s organizers.

“The team from the Prairies heard about Team Ukraine’s quest to come to Canada and spent the last month doing bottle drives in their hometowns. Following yesterday’s game, they delivered the funds to their competitors,” reads a statement Canada Cup issued Friday.

Organizers say the donation will support Ukraine’s softball program back home.

Prairie Renegades’ head coach Alana Armstrong says her players came up with the idea to raise money for Team Ukraine all by themselves.

“The girls felt it was very important to do something for these brave Ukrainian women after learning more about what they were going through to play the sport they love,” Armstrong said in the release from Canada Cup.

She adds that the opportunity to share the donation was “very emotional and there were lots of tears.”

Ukraine’s team scored another victory against Washington’s Snohomish Shock on Thursday before losing to Portland’s team Bridgeball Softball in the playoff round the following day.