​This weekend, more than 400 moms from 26 teams across Beverly public schools compete all weekend long in a softball tournament known as “MomBall.” The tournament gives the moms a chance to build camaraderie and community while also giving back. It’s been a tradition in the city for the last 26 years that many of the moms said is hard to describe. “It’s just really good for the moms to be doing something other than dragging their kids around to practice,” Chris Boudreau, a co-coordinator of the event, said. “It’s a time to release, it’s not about the dads, it’s not about the grandparents, it’s about the moms,” Jennifer Carter, a player in the tournament for the last 21 years, said. It’s a tournament that welcomes moms of all skill levels to participate. “People are first timers, there’s people that have played in college D1,” Carter said. “I was so nervous I could barely hit the ball, but I had the best time of my life,” Cynthia Quinn, a player for the last eight years, said. Along the sidelines, families and kids can be heard loudly cheering on their moms and their teams. “There’s nothing as special as if you’re running down the base and you hear ‘yay mommy!’” Amy Madden, a player for the last three years, said. “They do so much for us, we wanna give back and cheer them on,” Brian Bishop, a dad supporting his wife playing in the tournament, said. “It’s amazing it’s so cool, we didn’t have something like this before so it’s like a big thing for the family, big thing for the community.”A big part of the weekend is also about giving back to the community. A large portion of the money raised will be donated to Beverly’s Public Schools. Last year, they raised more than $25,000 to celebrate 25 years of the tournament. “We all know that our school systems are in dire need of money so to be able to give back, I think that’s the biggest thing,” Carter said. A collection of nonperishable food items and toiletries are also being collected to benefit Beverly Bootstraps Food Pantry, with each team also competing to collect the most donations from their respective schools. Last year, nearly 5,000 pounds of products were donated to the nonprofit. “The sense of community that I have gotten from this, I’m gonna cry, but it is just a really beautiful thing,” Danielle Barry, who participated for the last 5 years, said. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW