Niagara Classic makes its return
‘We’re back’ is the theme of this year’s Niagara Classic Invitational Elementary Basketball Tournament which starts today at St. Denis, St. Teresa of Calcutta, Canadian Martyrs and St. Ann and concludes with the championship games Thursday at Saint Francis.
It has been about seven or eight years since the tournament was last held because of a number of factors. But rather than dwell on the past, John Riddell, who is co-chair of the tournament along with Stephanie MacSporran, is focusing on the excitement around the return of the tournament.
The origins of the tournament came in the early 1990s when Dave Morris ran a boys tournament out of Dalewood. Denyse Levitt asked Riddell why there wasn’t a girls tournament and they ended up starting a 32-team girls tournament in the mid-1990s. Eventually Riddell, Dan Sullivan and MacSporran organized both tournaments.
“At its peak, we had 16 teams from the public board and 16 teams from the Catholic board and it was just fun, healthy competition. The DSBN (District School Board of Niagara) ran the boys side and we (Niagara Catholic District School Board) ran the girls side,” Riddell said.
Recently Riddell and others have been inundated with 30-somethings sharing their memories of playing in the tournament.
“They looked at it liked the Welland Tribune or Standard tournament. We were on Cogeco and I thought to myself that we had to bring this back,” he said. “We were doing such a disservice to the kids and the interest in its return was just great as was the buzz around restarting it.”
Organizers were also hearing from high school coaches who are struggling to get kids to try out for their teams, whether it be for volleyball or basketball.
“A club ball player is going to try out for the team but if you are someone in Grade 7 or Grade 8 who has 30-40 games with a referee under your belt, you are going to have the confidence when the announcement comes on in the first week of school to try out. We were always proud that we could put students on high school teams.”
This year’s Classic will feature 16 boys and 16 girls teams from Niagara Catholic schools across the Region. Next year, the plan is to include teams from the DSBN and double the size of the tournament.
“We are not going to stop here,” Riddell said. “We are going to continue to build upon this and the goal is to get that buzz back in the elementary schools for athletics.”
He is thrilled where the tournament is at considering planning only started the third week of September.
“For me, it was enough talking about what the tournament used to be like. It was time to do something about it. If we had the ability to do something about it, let’s do it. It is only going to get bigger and better.”
The tournament is being made possible with the help of a number of sponsors. Jeremy Delacruz of Niagara Ignite has sponsored the T-shirts for the championship teams and Brock women’s basketball coach Mike Rao and Niagara College men’s basketball coach Phil Mosley are providing swag for individual player awards.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Jennifer Benoit, Physical Education Consultant, has been extremely supportive in getting this tournament back,” Riddell said.
Girls side pool play will be held at St. Denis and St. Teresa of Calcutta on Monday and Tuesday with the advancing teams moving on to play at St. Teresa of Calcutta on Wednesday.The final will be played at Saint Francis on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Boys side pool play will be held Monday and Tuesday at Canadian Martyrs and St. Ann on Monday and Tuesday with the advancing teams moving on to play at St. Denis Wednesday. The final will be played at Saint Francis on Thursday at 4 p.m.
