With a record 424 teams, the 33rd annual McQuade Softball Tournament, which begins today, will be the biggest one yet, but how big is big?

Measured by fan interest, bigger than just about any softball tournament around, including nationals. Tournament organizers expect as many 15,000 people to attend games at diamonds throughout Bismarck and Mandan.

"It's really hard to explain to people if they've never been here," tournament director Mike Wolf said. "It's hard to explain that, down at the Clem Kelley complexes, there will be anywhere from three to five thousand people watching softball games.

"It's really unheard of in the softball world all around the country. You might get a few hundred people to a game if it's a big event."

It takes a lot of people to put on a tournament that big. That the McQuade manages to come off without a hitch year after year can be taken for granted, but it's not as easy as it looks.

"It is a lot of organization," Wolf said. "It's a year-round process. We probably have over 1,000 volunteers that we recruit to help us run the tournament. Certainly without our volunteers we wouldn't be able to put on this event."

Of course the most significant numbers associated with McQuade come with dollar signs attached. There's the impact on the local economy - with money pouring in to local hotels, restaurants and stores.

But even more important than that is the proceeds that the McQuade generates for charity. More than $1 million has been raised for local organizations over the years, according to tournament organizers.

Wolf said that players and fans tend to get into the spirit of giving, as do the men and women in blue.

"Virtually every one of our umpires donates either all of their games back to the tournament or at least a portion of their games back to the tournament," Wolf said. "So the money that they give back probably equates to about $4,000 to 5,000 that we're able to give back to our local charities."