Hoops for a good cause at Park View

Jen Cowart
Posted 3/25/15

The students at Park View Middle School are once again thinking of the needs of others around them, as they participate in the fourth annual 3x3 Basketball Tournament which benefits the Tomorrow …

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Hoops for a good cause at Park View

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The students at Park View Middle School are once again thinking of the needs of others around them, as they participate in the fourth annual 3x3 Basketball Tournament which benefits the Tomorrow Fund.

The faculty advisors for the event, Chris Burke and Pete Guyon, explained how the idea came to be several years ago, and how it has since evolved into the major school community event that it has become.

“We chose this event years ago, based on a personal experience I had with the Tomorrow Fund,” Guyon said. “I had taken my youngest child in for an office visit, and while I was there, I happened to see the children who were being treated for chemotherapy and I watched the staff at the Tomorrow Fund interacting with them. The entire staff there was tremendous with the patients. Unbeknownst to us, the following school year we had students at our school who also had received services from the Tomorrow Fund, so indirectly, we were helping those students out.”

With the tournament in its fourth year, it has grown exponentially in terms of both participation and in anticipation.

“We start in the beginning of March each year, and we have teams of four students. This year we have over 100 students participating,” Burke said. “We play until we get championship teams, and then the winners play the faculty. This year, a seventh-grade girls’ team won and an eighth-grade boys’ team won. The winning boys’ team players were Eric Isom, Andrew Khvang, Mack Hanley and Paul Maguire. The winning girls’ team players were Caroline Bradley, India Mei, Coren-Gold, Hope Halverson, and Phoebe Herriott. The first week in April we have a celebration at Dave and Buster’s, courtesy of the restaurant, and its manager James Chiarello, who donates the buffet and a $10 Power Card per person for all of the kids who played and all of the kids who donated, but chose not to play. We usually have about 150 kids in attendance. Kathleen Connely of the Tomorrow Fund usually comes to the dinner for the check presentation.”

As the tournament has evolved over the years, it has grown to include faculty members at the school who have chosen to sponsor teams.

“Just about every team makes T-shirts,” Guyon said. “It’s become more than a fundraiser, it’s really become a community event for a great cause.”

In past years, students, families or Tomorrow Fund staff members have come to the school for a kickoff event, and spoken about their personal experiences with the organization. This year, however, the official kickoff event, which was scheduled to have guest speakers, had to be cancelled due to snow. However, both Burke and Guyon said that did not diminish the school spirit surrounding the tournament.

“A lot of fellow students came out this year to support the teams who were playing,” Guyon said. “The final game will take place the first week of April, and the boys and girls will team up to play the faculty. The kids are very excited. This game has taken on a life of its own now.”

With middle school sports currently out of the school department budget, the tournament fills a void.

“With no middle school sports anymore, we always see a lot of participation here, a lot of team spirit, and we really see everyone coming together,” Burke said. “Everyone really gets into it and it gives them that outlet, and it’s going to a good cause as well.”

The amount raised through the event has grown from $1,000 the first year to $3,000 last year.

“We’re hoping to get close to the same amount this year,” Burke said. “We were also pleased to find out that our school had received a 2014 Service Award from the Tomorrow Fund, which was presented to us at their annual January meeting.”

Both men agree that the tournament and the celebratory dinner in April could not be a success without the support of the school staff and the staff at Dave and Buster’s.

“This just would not be possible without them,” Guyon said.

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