The volleyball season is over, but a new tradition is just beginning for players in east Scarborough.
The first annual East Region senior boys’ volleyball all-star competition was held on Dec. 10 at Woburn C.I. to celebrate competition and camaraderie between high schools in the east end, including Mowat C.I. and West Hill C.I.
 |
“The whole idea of this thing was that since we have such strong volleyball in our region this year, we thought this would be a nice way to bring all that talent together in one night,” said Andrew Ming who helped to organize the event. “These kids are all so used to playing against each other. This is an opportunity for them to get to meet each other on a competitive but more social level at the same time.”
Ming is the coach of the Woburn junior boys’ team and is one of the many volunteers that made the evening possible. He said that the whole night was pulled off with little to no expense. The referee was a volunteer, the coaches took care of transportation and refreshments, and a sponsor, Canuck Sports Stuff, generously donated the custom jerseys.
A trophy would have added some cost, but Ming said that it’s wasn’t necessary.
“They don’t get a trophy, they just get bragging rights,” said Ming. “These kids have been talking about it for a while and I think that bragging rights is bigger than any trophy they can get.”
The bragging rights were determined by a skills competition and an all-star game.
The players on the all-star team were selected from 10 east region schools by a group of six coaches. Once the teams were decided, each school was allowed to select one additional player to compete in the spike competition and another to compete in the setting competition.
Ebenezer Tutu, 16, represented West Hill C.I. with a strong third place finish in the spike competition. He has been playing volleyball for West Hill for three years and is happy to see that a social activity like this is finally being offered to bring players together.
“I’m actually really excited to be participating because this is my last year,” said Tutu. “Everyone wants to come out here just to have some fun. Everyone can get along with each other, so this is a way to talk to other people about their experiences in volleyball and bring that back to our school to show the younger kids.”
