YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Happening right now, the YMCA of Youngstown is hosting its 32nd annual Community Cup. The opening ceremony was held Friday night, where WKBN 27 First News reporter and meteorologist Kyle Alexander lit the torch.

The Community Cup is an opportunity for businesses and organizations to compete in games and get to know each other better. Alexander is its chairman.

“I’m super honored, super thankful that they asked me to do this. I think a big part of this, and basically, the slogan of it is, ‘Unity Within the Community,’ and I think there couldn’t be a better way to show that,” he said.

Fourteen teams are signed up this year. They each compete in a series of events.

“It’s anyone who works at those local businesses and their spouses can compete in 14 different events. It’s three weekends, kind of like a mini-Olympics for the Valley,” said Julie Walker, director of the Community Cup.

The competitions range in intensity.

“We do just about everything from your artistic stuff like the banner competition that’s going on tonight, to bocce, kickball. The big event, which is the tug of war, which will be at Wean Park this year,” Walker said.

After the opening ceremony, teams began their first competition: banner decorating.

Emily Huggins has participated in the Community Cup for the past eight years. She says her favorite event is the banner competition.

“My first Community Cup was back in 2018 when I was an intern with the firm. We’ve done the banner. We’ve done all the different events and had a great time,” Huggins said, who is a member of the Thomas-Packard team.

There will be two more weekends of events. One is in two weeks and the other is on Sept. 9 at Wean Park.