Troy high schools should resurrect tournament

When I was a student at Troy High, there used to be a pre- season basketball tournament that brought the city’s four high schools together. However, the Uncle Sam Basketball Tournament was discontinued after the 1981 event, as memory serves, for a number of reasons. For one, Troy High, which hosted the tournament, moved their homecoming up on the calendar from November, during the tournament, to late September, during football season, as the open air of the football stadium has proven to be a more feasible venue for homecoming, as I’ve witnessed personally the last three seasons.

Today, Lansingburgh, LaSalle, and Catholic Central all play in the same league (Colonial Council), with Troy on the outside looking in (Suburban Council), in effect swapping places with Lansingburgh. While Troy and Lansingburgh’s women’s basketball teams have begun an annual series as their schedules permit, why can’t the athletic directors of all four schools (five when you add in Emma Willard with an eye toward a women’s Uncle Sam tournament) come together to agree on reviving the tournament? Each school can rotate hosting the tournament, which, for logistical reasons, would be a weekend event as before, but on Saturday and Sunday, instead of Friday and Saturday, to avoid league conflicts. Having attended at least part of a game in the 1981 tournament, I know the gyms can be packed to the point where if you had to leave your seat, you were stuck in standing room only the rest of the night, or until a seat opened.

If the schools can’t agree on rotating as hosts, why not see if RPI can help by loaning the use of one of their gyms? Or Sage or HVCC? This would actually be a boon not just for the schools, but for the city as well. This is worth thinking about in the long, not short, term.

Jacob Gilbert

Troy

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