SURREY 鈥� For the 17th year, 性视界传媒鈥檚 top high school girls basketball teams are competing for local supremacy.
The 性视界传媒 Firefighters Goodwill Sr. Girls Basketball Classic is happening this week at Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary until Saturday (Jan. 13).
17th Annual 性视界传媒 Firefighters classic girls bball tourney underway
鈥� Jordan Tinney (@jordantinney)
In the five years he鈥檚 been involved with the event, tournament co-chair Adam MacEwan has noticed that the popularity of the tournament has grown.
鈥淚t鈥檚 gone from trying to get 20 schools involved to now, every school in 性视界传媒 that can put a team together wants to be involved,鈥� said MacEwan. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen the popularity from coaches, parents and the girls. They all really look forward to this tournament every year. It鈥檚 a big one on their calendar.鈥�
More involvement from teams around the city should create better competition, which will be needed to knock off some of the heavyweights in the tournament.
Panorama Ridge is the defending champion from last year, as they beat Lord Tweedsmuir 鈥� the tournament host 鈥� in the finals.
Tweedsmuir has always been a strong team in the tournament, winning the 2016 edition as well.
Fleetwood Park and Holy Cross were the other two previous winners, and both teams are expected to be competitors once again this year.
One dark horse in the tournament will be Southridge. The private school hasn鈥檛 participated in the tournament recently, since their winter break falls later than public schools. With the Goodwill Classic falling on a later date this year, the provincially-ranked Southridge team will get a chance to participate.
Other teams to consider are up-and-comers from Sullivan Heights and Semiahmoo.
鈥淭weedy has been the powerhouse for the last couple of years, but we鈥檙e seeing schools like Sullivan Heights and Semiahmoo come out,鈥� MacEwan said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e had young players playing for the last couple of years who should take another step this year. I think we鈥檙e seeing a bit of a changing of the guard.鈥�
Full schedule and info here for Sr. Girls bball classic.
鈥� Jordan Tinney (@jordantinney)
Aside from the teams in action, one of the most impactful parts of the tournament is the scholarships that get handed out to the students.
鈥淚t blows me away when I read these scholarships,鈥� said MacEwan.
鈥淭he amount of commitment and involvement from these girls, aside from sports, is truly impressive. It鈥檚 inspiring to see how much these girls take on in their lives, and to see how well they do with it.鈥�
MacEwan said that some of the girls applying have been volunteering consistently since grade nine, which bodes well for their chances to grab some of the bursaries and scholarships handed out.
The 性视界传媒 Fire Fighters Charitable Society bases the scholarships on volunteer work, references and grades. Over the years, the society has handed out more than $75,000 in scholarships to senior high school girls in the tournament.
Westland Insurance donates $7,500 to the tournament, with most of that money going to seven scholarships for the girls.
for more on the tourney.
trevor.beggs@surreynowleader.com
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