One of the biggest basketball events in Northern Island is the Belfast Classic. While coming over here, there was a lot of emphasis placed on how successful this tournament is to Sport Changes Life because it gives so many children and people in the community the opportunity to see one of the higher levels of basketball played on a big scale. As opposed to last year’s four teams, we would be hosting EIGHT American college teams to play tournament style games.
The preparation of this event is one that is not to be taken lightly, so, the Victory Scholars and SCL family will be put to the test. We all were put into groups and assigned jobs to make sure that the event ran smoothly across the three days in late November. I was assigned with the entertainment group. We were in charge of picking attendees out of the crowd to participate in games during timeouts and half times. Some of these games included sumo wrestling suits, oversized clothes, and chances to win 10,000euros. We also threw out memorabilia into the crowd for attendees and getting the crowds to stay engaged and make noise for the teams playing.
I think my favorite part of engaging with the youth was during the National Anthem. During the beginning of the sessions, we would have the two teams line up across the court from each other. During this, we would take selected kids from schools throughout Northern Ireland and line them up in between the players. The look on the kids’ faces were amazing and the players demonstrated the same happiness. They were giving them high fives, smiles, hugs, and fist bumps. The children were ecstatic to be a part of it and it was awesome to see the same by the players.
Being a part of the entertainment team also allowed me to engage with some of the celebrities that would go on the court as well. Ever since I could remember, I was a Katie Smith fan. And being that one of the teams from my college conference were playing at the Classic, my commissioner introduced me to Katie Smith! I grew up watching her play basketball in Minnesota with the Lynx and she was one heck of a player so being able to meet one of my idols was a dream come true.
As the Belfast Classic came to an end, we thought about all the time and energy spent to make an event like this happen. It was amazing to see basketball continue to reach the masses and provide opportunities to communities that wouldn’t have typically been able to see it. It was also good to know the successful of the event as well and that as a Victory Scholar, the efforts were appreciated.
