Standard tourney celebrates 60th anniversary
2023 is a milestone year for the Standard High School Basketball Tournament.
This year’s event, scheduled for Dec. 4 to Dec. 8, will mark the 60th anniversary of the storied tournament.
“There are so memories throughout the years and we are just thrilled to have it back after missing a couple of years. I think it should be the 62nd but here we are at the 60th,” said John Pilling, who co-chairs the event along with Randy Conlon.
The tournament has survived and prospered because of many factors.
“I think it is a combination of the kids who played in the tournament, the coaches, our committee and all the people who have played in the tournament in the past and keep the memories alive and pass it on to the next generation,” he said.
Having strong organizing committees has certainly helped.
“It is not just this committee but all the committees who have come before,” Pilling said.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary, a reunion has been planned for Wednesday, Dec. 6 for former MVPs, current coaches and guests who have played an integral role in the tournament’s history. The reunion will be held at the Grantham Lions Club at 732 Niagara St. in St. Catharines with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. and the event starting at 7 p.m. Please RSVP to jpilling@pillingfinancial.com or 905-380-1370 by Monday, Nov. 20 so the committee can finalize its numbers for the Wednesday evening event. A cash bar will be available.
One of the invited guests will be Regional Chair Jim Bradley who has attended every championship night of the Standard tournament.
The committee will provide a badge on the Wednesday evening for free finals night admission to its valued guests.
Finals night will be held Friday, Dec. 8 at St. Catharines Collegiate with the consolation final set for 5:30 p.m. and the championship game set for 7:30 p.m.
Among the plans for the reunion are: the unveiling of an all-time, all-tournament team; and, a pictorial history of the tournament.
The all-time, all-tournament team will be comprised of 16 players and four coaches as selected by a committee.
It was a tough team to pick.
“It was and I completely stayed out of it as a former player,” said Pilling, with a laugh.
The criteria for players was approximately 50 per cent for their performance in the tournament over their careers, 25 per cent would be the player’s community involvement with the game of basketball at large or with the tournament specifically and the final 25 per cent would be the player’s post secondary career.
“Obviously there are so many great players who have played in the tournament over the years and there are many great athletes who played in the tournament and didn’t win MVP but we did limit the selection to the MVPs,” Pilling said. “We had several individuals who were multiple MVPs.”
The pictorial history of the tournament is a work in progress.
“That has been a real challenge but we have gone to the library, the St. Catharines museum and Greg Miller at the city has been helping us. Brian MacIsaac has taken the lead on that and we are trying to compile a 60-year history of the tournament.”
The committee will gladly accept any photos from any year of the tournament but is looking specifically for the years 1999-2016 because it has no pictures at this point. The pictorial history will have a focus on championship night.
For more information, email MacIsaac at brian_macisaac@hotmail.com.
“We are looking for pictures of the all-star team, the championship team and maybe the stories from finals night,” Pilling said. “There are definitely some holes and some gaps.”
The committee is also working with RegattaSport to produce and sell commemorative 60th anniversary merchandise online to former players and coaches. RegattaSport is planning to donate proceeds from the sales back to the committee for its bursary fund. The site is expected to launch shortly.
