Familiar Setting Brings People Together in a Traditional Event
A great tradition in high school basketball all across America are local Christmas and Holiday tournaments. Usually played among area competition, these two-day events give kids a nice break from the regular season grind and offer fans the chance to see nearby teams lock horns in what could best be called “pride games.” Playing for a tall trophy is fun for the players and a month into the season, vying for hardware is often exactly what teams need to keep their focus.
Fans have a chance to escape for a few hours from all the meaningless bowl games on television and the fridges full of leftovers. Whole families, grandparents in tow, enter from the chilled air hoping to get a good seat near their favorite spot. Alumni visiting from out of town reconnect with old friends and enjoy an hour or so of nostalgia as their former team takes the floor to once again face their hated, cross-town rivals.
The concession stand has homemade cookies laid out on the counter and the familiar sound of the popcorn machine and the welcome aroma of corn being freshly popped draws you over. The faces of the people selling goods for the booster club are familiar and friendly. Teenagers stand in small groups in front of the trophy case talking about God knows what, but they’re at the game instead of riding around town getting into trouble, so not to worry.
As opposing teams take the floor, they burst through butcher block paper signs promising a beat down. Folks in the bleachers stand to clap and smile. The music blaring from the speakers hanging from the rafters is far too loud, but nobody complains because this is for the kids and that’s the way they like it. The head coaches saunter onto the floor looking as if this is the most important game of the year. Heads down, they walk toward the bench without looking at the crowd or the teams making lay-ups. They’ve made this short trip from the locker room a thousand times before and can do it in their sleep. While they appear calm, inside it’s “game on, baby.”
Game officials stand stoically at half-court watching to see if anyone attempts a pre-game dunk. Their black pants are creased and their shoes are shined, their black jackets covering gray short sleeve shirts with a black whistle attached to a lanyard around their necks. They chat among themselves as if they know a secret no one else can be let in on, knowing that in less than ten minutes, they will make half the people there very unhappy with the simplest of calls.
When the teams retreat to their respective locker rooms, straggling spectators filter in from the lobby. Everyone settles into their seats as cheerleaders begin their chants and the public address announcer warns the crowd of the consequences for unsportsmanlike conduct from anyone in the stands. Then, the teams emerge again to even louder roars of approval, ready to do battle against other kids they’ve known since the first grade. Everybody stands as the National Anthem is sung by four girls from the school’s glee club. Even people in the lobby stop, remove their hats and put their hands over their hearts in a show of patriotic respect.
A holiday tournament gets the adrenalin flowing all around and for a couple of hours everyone is focused on something other than shopping, napping or sitting in a tree stand. The gyms aren’t always inviting because they’re usually cold from having sat dormant for a few days, but wearing a winter coat or unveiling the new sweater Santa brought is just fine by you. Finally, too, the kids are all in one place with the family. It’s all good.
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