Grade School Tournaments
Grade school tournaments were always one of the highlights of my year. I would leave my normal school day and tell all my friends I was going to play in a basketball tournament that was over three hours away. I thought this made me sound pretty cool. In addition to feeling cool when I left home, I felt even cooler when I got to campus. Back then I thought I owned the place. The only difference between then and now is that then it was just me who thought that.
As time has past I look back on the great times I had on and off the court at the tournament. I remember one play when Jon Gamble pump-faked the ball right in my face at half court and I completely went after it. As he dribbled past me he said, “Don’t fall for the pump fake.” I felt slightly dumb, but laughed it off. Jon and I still joked about it even when we were on the same team this year.
On a more serious note, CLC Grade School Basketball Tournament is one of the three events in the year that really got the CLC youth together. The other two are the ILC Camp and Visitors’ Day. These events really persuaded me to come to school here.
I had a large decision to make at the end of eighth grade when all I wanted to do was play football. Events like these helped me realize the great friends I had here and the benefits of coming to school at ILHS to receive a Christian education.
The memories will never leave my mind. Getting to meet great Christian young people and playing basketball with your friends is a great experience. Now I look back at the people I met then and see them sitting right next to me in the computer lab while I type this up, and hope to see them throughout the rest of my life.