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Age and experience won out at this weekend鈥檚 first-ever Howe Sound Secondary alumni basketball round-robin tourney.
The alumni event took place at the Howe Sound Secondary gym over the weekend and brought together two groups of Howe Sound senior boys team grads, one from 2010 to 2015 grads, the other composed of players who had graduated before 2010.
Joining them was an alumni team from Elphinstone Secondary in Gibsons and the current Howe Sound senior boys team.
In the end, the Elphinstone team pushed the pre-2010 grads in the final, but the Sounders alumni came out on top with a 73-70 victory.
鈥淭he old-timers showed up,鈥� said Ron Roberts, the longtime senior boys coach who organized the event. 鈥淭hey went 3 and 0 and won the tournament.鈥�
The more recent grads were pushed by the current HSS team but held on to win, although they lost both to Elphinstone and the older alumni. The more recent grads came in shorthanded because a few key players were injured or unavailable.
鈥淭hey could鈥檝e and probably should鈥檝e recruited again,鈥� Roberts said.
As far as the current Sounders, as the new kids, they were not expected to challenge. 鈥淭hey were expected to go 0 and 3,鈥� Roberts said.
The current team had stepped in to fill a gap left when plans to recruit another alumni team from the corridor did not come to fruition.
鈥淭he senior team stepped in because we couldn鈥檛 get a commitment from Pemberton,鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淭hey really filled out the tournament.鈥�
In the meantime, the current team will have to console themselves with their Sea to Sky league championship, which they won on Friday. Roberts is hopeful the players will see this as an opportunity to come back in future years as alumni.
The aim of the tournament was to bring former players back together on the court for friendly competition, as well as raise funds to help offset trip costs, especially for teams like the senior boys, who played not only in the Sea to Sky League but also in the AAA North Shore League.
鈥淭he number one thing is travel,鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all private rides. They can鈥檛 afford to take buses.鈥�
Roberts, himself, is a Howe Sound alumnus, having graduated in 1977, and he has stepped in as a community coach for the team off and on ever since. He hopes the alumni event will help bring back some of the interest in the high school hoops he remembers from his days on the hardwood.
鈥淲hen I was in high school, these stands were packed for every game,鈥� he said.
This season, he was planning to coach again but was happy to turn over the reins to Max Roy, who had coached many of the senior players while at Don Ross Middle School.
This gave Roberts the chance to organize the tournament, which he said grew out of an informal game in the fall and led to bigger plans to hold an event with a few teams.
Roberts credits the support the organizers received from businesses such as Save-On-Foods and Little Caesars to help keep players and supporters at the tournament fed, as well as the support of the administration in allowing the event to take place at the school. He also said Dan Fay鈥檚 athletic leadership students stepped up to help run the event, handling duties like making posters and running concessions.
The plan now is to make the tournament annual.
There are some particular alumni he would love to see. With the 40th anniversary of his graduation next year, he wants to get his colleagues back to town for the 2017 festivities. 鈥淚 want to get the old team back,鈥� he said.听
