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Thursday
March 18, 2010 Since 1922 |
Refs start, trophies end GCC tourney
By Dave Rogers
The Baytown Sun Published December 31, 2009 Editor’s note: This is the third of a three-part series looking at the planning and work that goes on behind the scenes of a high school basketball tournament, in this case the Gulf Coast Classic at Barbers Hill.
MONT BELVIEU – You can’t have a basketball tournament without plenty of hardware to give away at the end.
But you can’t even start a game without the guys and gals throwing up the ball for the opening tip-off and blowing the whistles and calling the fouls.
The Gulf Coast Classic at Barbers Hill High School has plenty of trophies and referees, thanks to some careful planning.
Roy Adams, secretary of the Bay Area chapter of UIL basketball officials, schedules the officials.
That’s a total of three officials per game for each of the 49 games of the tournament.
“We’ll use 35 to 40 officials before it’s over,” Adams said. “Some will work two or three days, three or four games per day. Some might work as many as 15 games in the tournament before it’s through.”
During the basketball season, there is no shortage of work for certified officials, many of whom work high school and middle school games during the week and Little Dribbler contests on weekend.
But, almost to a person, they make room for Barbers Hill’s tournament.
And when they’re not on one of the three courts calling games, they can often be found in the stands, watching games.
“Referees enjoy working tournaments,” Adams said. “They’re kind of like get-togethers where everybody gets to visit and critique each other.”
Of course, the players and teams enjoy playing basketball, measuring their teams against others.
Ultimately, they want to take home the trophies that signify tournament success.
Barbers Hill athletic secretary Joni Koonce orders the trophies early each December, with assistance from the school’s basketball coaches. Sharlene Barnett, a Barbers Hill assistant coach who has coordinated the tournament in recent years, takes it from there.
“Wayne and Trudy Henscey (of Mont Belvieu’s All Star Trophies and Awards) make the trophies and this year they’ve come up with a real neat eagle head to use on them,” Barnett said.
The Gulf Coast Classic awards a total of eight team trophies – for the first-, second- and third-place teams, along with the consolation bracket champs, in both the boys and girls divisions.
A total of 20 all-tournament trophies are awarded for boys and girls, with MVP awards for each gender.
“This year, we’re starting something new and we’ll be presenting medals to all the players on the first-place teams,” Barnett said.
A table in the foyer of the Barbers Hill Field House displayed all the trophies during tournament play.
By the end of the third and final day of action Wednesday, the table was bare and the trophies headed home with some happy players and coaches.
The Baytown Sun Published December 31, 2009 Editor’s note: This is the third of a three-part series looking at the planning and work that goes on behind the scenes of a high school basketball tournament, in this case the Gulf Coast Classic at Barbers Hill.
MONT BELVIEU – You can’t have a basketball tournament without plenty of hardware to give away at the end.
But you can’t even start a game without the guys and gals throwing up the ball for the opening tip-off and blowing the whistles and calling the fouls.
The Gulf Coast Classic at Barbers Hill High School has plenty of trophies and referees, thanks to some careful planning.
Roy Adams, secretary of the Bay Area chapter of UIL basketball officials, schedules the officials.
That’s a total of three officials per game for each of the 49 games of the tournament.
“We’ll use 35 to 40 officials before it’s over,” Adams said. “Some will work two or three days, three or four games per day. Some might work as many as 15 games in the tournament before it’s through.”
During the basketball season, there is no shortage of work for certified officials, many of whom work high school and middle school games during the week and Little Dribbler contests on weekend.
But, almost to a person, they make room for Barbers Hill’s tournament.
And when they’re not on one of the three courts calling games, they can often be found in the stands, watching games.
“Referees enjoy working tournaments,” Adams said. “They’re kind of like get-togethers where everybody gets to visit and critique each other.”
Of course, the players and teams enjoy playing basketball, measuring their teams against others.
Ultimately, they want to take home the trophies that signify tournament success.
Barbers Hill athletic secretary Joni Koonce orders the trophies early each December, with assistance from the school’s basketball coaches. Sharlene Barnett, a Barbers Hill assistant coach who has coordinated the tournament in recent years, takes it from there.
“Wayne and Trudy Henscey (of Mont Belvieu’s All Star Trophies and Awards) make the trophies and this year they’ve come up with a real neat eagle head to use on them,” Barnett said.
The Gulf Coast Classic awards a total of eight team trophies – for the first-, second- and third-place teams, along with the consolation bracket champs, in both the boys and girls divisions.
A total of 20 all-tournament trophies are awarded for boys and girls, with MVP awards for each gender.
“This year, we’re starting something new and we’ll be presenting medals to all the players on the first-place teams,” Barnett said.
A table in the foyer of the Barbers Hill Field House displayed all the trophies during tournament play.
By the end of the third and final day of action Wednesday, the table was bare and the trophies headed home with some happy players and coaches.