Grand Rapids, Michigan, April 25, 2016 – Last month CD Barnes Construction kicked off their first annual March Madness Tournament in an effort to exercise some team building skills. The tournament wasn’t the typical NCAA Bracket challenge that most people are familiar with. Teams of two employees were randomly drawn and the goal was set to accumulate the most points at the end of the championship. Throughout the month of March each CD Barnes team carefully selected their winning basketball teams for the first thirty-two-game round, the second sixteen-game round, the third eight-game round, the fourth two-game round, and finally the last championship round. However, in addition to selecting the winning basketball team, points were awarded based on the margin of victory of the winning team. So the challenge was not only to select the winner, but it also brought sabermetrics into the equation.

The CD Barnes March Madness Tournament first and second place teams were awarded four hundred and two hundred dollars respectively. Instead of keeping the money to split among team members, both of the winning teams decided to donate their prize money to a local organization. The organization they selected was the Boys & Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids, whose mission is, “to enable all young people to reach their full potential as responsible citizens through education, recreation, and other positive community experiences in partnership with the Grand Rapids Police Department,” according to their website. The teams presented a six hundred dollar check to club last week.