Beyond the Game-Tournament-Part 2

Beyond the Game-Mas allá del Juego

Part 2

So for any of you who read my last blog, I am sorry for leaving you hanging for a bit:) My intentions were to write a second blog about how the tournament turned out...but obviously that didn’t happen until now. 

It was a cool moment, when we were setting up to get everything in place, teams started to stroll in behind their banners, to chants, and with lots of enthusiasm. The magnitude of the event started to hit me, and the reality that I was in charge and largely responsible for how it would turn out made me anxious. As we waited for the teams to arrive, we had an entertainer (shown here on the left) playing music, getting the participants engaged with dances, cheering competitions, and games. The kids really got into it and it was fun so see the enthusiasm and participation. The picture on the right shows a team getting into the different cheers and activities before we started the inauguration.

The picture to the left is of our inauguration with principals from a few of the participating schools as well as staff from fe y alegría (faith and happiness) organization that helped the basketball program throughout the year. On the right is my cousin Julie and another volunteer Charlene.

The pictures to the left shows a little of the environment that the volunteers worked in.  I don´t think they had too many dull moments. Whether there was some confusion with schedules, that we had primarily during the first half hour to hour when teams were having difficulty reading the brackets, or kids just wanting to hang out and play. The volunteers were very busy, and at times, put under some high stress situations, but they handled it with patience, kindness, and smiles as you can see from the pictures. 

It was interesting for me to see what it was that I envisioned in my head and what actually transpired. A good part of the first day, was pretty hectic with lots of unforeseen things taking place. It was kind of like treading water to stay afloat. We had to work really hard but in the end we didn’t drown-so that was good. After day one we had some good conversations about what we needed to do to make day two go more smoothly. (less like treading water and more like floating on a raft down a lazy river). I´m not sure we quite made it to floating down a lazy river on a raft, but day two ran much more smoothly. 

The kids started to understand the structure of the tournament and they were really buying into it. (beyond the game). They were participating in the workshops on social justice, family, self-esteem, taking care of the environment, team building, non violence, life goals/dreams/vision, and many more. All the facilitators that I got to talk to said the teams participated very well and that attendance was very steady throughout the day (good numbers/participation). This was definitely a concern of ours, because it can be hard to convince young kids (adults too) of the importance of doing things like we were presenting in our workshops. 

Another area that I was very pleasantly surprised about was the cheering/motivation category that we had for the kids. When teams were not playing, participating in a workshop, they had the option of watching a game and receiving points if their entire team was cheering and encouraging teams as they played. We even had some waves taking place in the stands. As one volunteer, who was helping referee told me, it reminded me of being back in high school sports. It was a great and fun atmosphere. 

So to keep this blog update readable in length. I will sum it up saying the event was a success. We had our difficulties throughout the two days, but with the persistent work of our volunteers and the spirit of our participants, lots of fun was had, life skills and lessons were learned, and I believe positive fruit will come from it today and in the future.

A special thanks to my cousin Julie for all her help individually that she gave and also for recruiting others from the Maryknoll language institute. Without the collaboration of all who helped this event, it would never have been the success that it was. 

The picture below (left) is of the championship team in the category 12-14. This team participated in the basketball school that I helped form. They were also the overall champion (best team) of all the 26 teams that participated. With their combined efforts in games, workshops, and cheering/motivating we celebrate them in their continued efforts to learn from the game but to go BEYOND IT.  

Another cool moment for me was when a team that I had been training during the year (outside of the basketball program) participated in the tournament and won the category of 15-18. The picture to the left, is me with part of this team (Buenas Nuevas). And the individual picture is of the team captan giving a little speech about how I trained them during the year and how their team wanted to give their trophy as a sign of appreciation to me for the work that I did with them throughout the year. It definitely goes beyond sports and touches something more important. Life!