Youth Basketball Tourney Success Despite Blizzard
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- For many Minnesotans, there was no need to go to the gym Saturday. They got their exercise by shoveling, and pushing vehicles out of, knee-deep snow.
Many spent Saturday evening uncovering their cars from snow drifts that almost buried them. It was a good night to be inside.
It was one of those days were getting around town was best done on cross country skis. Nothing was moving. City buses, plows and even fast food restaurants shut down because of the blizzard.
But one group of parents and children wouldn't let the weather get in the way of their sporting event. One light, piercing the cold and snow, came from inside the Colin Powell Youth Leadership Center.
"I couldn't believe all the people that were here, especially today. I figured we'd be cancelled but the call never came, so we showed up out here [and the] place was packed," said parent Scott Gostchock.
Gostchock said he and his wife braved the blizzard to get there. They would never miss an opportunity to see their son Seth play.
"For the kids, I got to come and be here. My son is playing out there on the court right now and for him, it's his life," said Gostchock.
While many people tried to push, pull or shovel their way out of snow drifts 3 feet high, Gostchock and others spent this snowy day inside.
"It's going on about 7 hours now, just here all day long. It beats being outside in the snow, I will tell you that," Gostchock said.
The tournament is sponsored by Minnesota Youth Athletic Services and children from 4th to 12th grade filled the gym to take part.
"A lot of teams came from Canada; about 12 teams came from Canada. We had 42 teams total who signed up for this tournament. We were going to be here if they wanted to come, I mean obviously it's their choice if they wanted to brave the storm to come play," said tournament volunteer Andrew Joyner.
The children are all about basketball. No matter how much snow there is outside, sledding takes a back seat.
For the event organizers, keeping the tournament alive on a day when everything else was closed was genius.
"You know if it's worth it, if its empty then it probably wasn't, but we had a packed house. I would say it definitely was worth it today," said Joyner.
Those teams from Canada will be staying overnight.
The decision to hold the tournament was a good one. Everyone who made it in for the game was able to get back home without too many problems.
WCCO-TV's Reg Chapman Reports
