By
Geraldine Biliran, IRA Treasurer
In
an effort to promote literacy through basketball, the Guam International
Reading Association partnered up with the Guam Basketball Confederation for the sponsorship of the 5th Annual Girls' JV Hoopfest 2012,
a post-season basketball tournament that seeks to provide opportunity to
developing players within the junior varsity division. The participating teams
were the Cougars Club, George Washington High School, John F. Kennedy High
School, Okkodo High School, Simon Sanchez High School, Southern High School,
St. Paul Christian School, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School. The
tournament ran from December 14 to 20, 2012 and took place at the JFKHS
gymnasium.
Aside
from the monetary contribution from IRA, literacy was encouraged through the
donation of the book Dear Bully
(edited by Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones) to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place
teams of the tournament. This book is an anthology of stories about bullying
from a variety of top authors such as Lauren Kate, Lauren Oliver, and R.L.
Stine. Furthermore, the connection of literacy and basketball was made through
the t-shirt design, which illustrated X's and O's being drawn out on a
basketball court to allude to the statement that says, “The X's and O's start
with literacy.” This idea of merging literacy and basketball has been received
by a wide audience of student-athletes, coaches, parents, and teachers as being
a creative and truly appreciated approach.
A congratulations
is extended to the Okkodo Bulldogs for winning the championship, George
Washington Geckos for earning 2nd place, and to the Cougars Club for earning
3rd place. Medals were also given out to the ten All-Tournament Team Members,
which were players who made an overall impression with their skills and hard
work on the court. Although only three teams got to take home trophies and
books, all participating teams profited from the experience of literacy being
promoted through the popular game of basketball.
Tournament Snapshots
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