W.R. Myers hosting alumni tournament

By Greg Price
Taber Times
gprice@tabertimes.com

For those wanting to relive their old W.R. Myers glory, an athletic fundraiser has just the thing for you.

W.R. Myers will be holding its Alumni Basketball Tournament on Dec. 27 to celebrate the holiday season.

There was a brief hiatus from the tournament last year, but this year will mark the fourth time one has been held.

“Response has been pretty consistent. We usually get two women’s teams with three to four mens teams consistently,” said Megan Leusink, a co-organizer of the alumni tournament. “The more recent graduates, they are usually around home for Christmas and they usually play. It’s kind of fun to come back to your school and see what’s changed or what’s new. The winner of the men’s draw and the women’s draw play our current high school varsity team.”

However old the alumni are, Leusink added it still makes for some great and fun basketball.
“It can get pretty competitive and heated at times,” said Leusink with a chuckle. “There is laughing and joking, but not all the time. We take as many teams as we can. It is a fundraiser for us where we try and buy things for the basketball programs or the school that is kind of a luxury item. We bought a a set of really nice custom chairs for benches. We’ve been saving the money up for a couple of years now, but we don’t know what we’ll buy next. They are things that are more of a want than a need.”

For those wanting to get in for early-bird registration price it must be by Dec. 5 ($30 per player), but registrations will be taken up until the day of the event $40 after Dec. 5).

“It’s a great time. One thing I’ve noticed is parents really love to come and watch and see their kids play again,” said Leusink. “And for some of our families there is still one sibling playing in high school and the two siblings get to play each other. That last match to play against our varsity teams is an awesome game. The older guys and women are talking to the younger players and joking with them, it’s a good game.

If you would like to sign up for the Alumni Basketball Tournament, you can log onto http://wrmyers.horizon.ab.ca and scroll down to the Alumni Tournament 2014 link.