Literacy and Basketball: IRA sponsors the 5th Annual Girls’ JV Hoopfest 2012 – Post-Season Basketball Tournament

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