Per a press release Monday from Fort Wayne Community Schools, the district will host a basketball Holiday Tournament this December featuring all five of its high schools on both the girls and boys sides.
The tournament will be played December 22–23; South Side will host the opening day before the tournament moves to North Side for the second day of competition. Game times, matchups and ticket information will be announced later.
The event – in ways – revives the spirit of the former Summit Athletic Conference Holiday Tournament, which was traditionally one of the biggest events on the local basketball calendar. The tournament brought the conference’s boys and girls teams together for several days of basketball and frequently produced memorable performances, rivalry matchups and unexpected momentum heading into the rest of the season.
While this tournament is certainly focused on reviving some of the spirit of the SAC Tournament, it isn’t exactly the same thing, despite the release heading claiming the “FWCS Holiday Tournament returns to the court.”
The SAC Holiday Tournament has a rich history that includes standout moments like North Side’s five consecutive boys championships under Coach Shabaz Khaliq, Homestead’s rise behind stars such as Luke Goode and Carroll winning the final boys’ tournament in 2019 and the Homestead girls who captured the final girls championship that same year. It was one of the area’s premier showcases for many years with championship games packing Wayne High School with standing-room only crowds. There were years you had to stand outside for at least an hour in the cold hoping to get one of the prime seats in the building for the championship games.
The tournament also spent some peak years playing at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum when the impact and interest was so big that no high school gym was able to hold it.
The SAC Tournament was canceled in October 2020 because of COVID-19 concerns and has not been held since, as the statement notes, though claiming direct lineage to the “new” FWCS Holiday Tournament to the “old” SAC Holiday Tournament.
That said, the pandemic was really only the issue at the surface of the SAC and its annual tournament, hence the continued absence of a formal conference tournament, unlike the ACAC and NECC, which both continue their in-season tournaments.
“We are excited to bring back the FWCS Holiday Tournament,” Superintendent Dr. Mark Daniel said in the press release. “It is an opportunity for our student-athletes to compete and for students, families, alumni and community members to come together and support our schools.”
While Bounce takes significant umbrage with the term “bring back,” the spirit of what FWCS is attempting to do is important. Bounce penned a column back in 2021 that said good riddance to the tournament if it was gone for good. And I meant it then. The tournament had become a shell of its former self, losing a lot of that notable luster mentioned above. Crowds were smaller, interest had dwindled and old-school SAC fans never really embraced Carroll and Homestead’s success in the tournament.
Also not to be overlooked was the talk behind the scenes regarding the hosting the event, with schools in the conference none too keen on taking on the responsibility to continue the event after Wayne High School staff did such a phenomenal job giving up a lot of their time over Christmas break to monitor and run it.
It was a group effort that eliminated the SAC Holiday Tournament.
But if FWCS can bring back a version of a holiday tournament that resonates with fans the way the old one did, then I say let’s do it. So I am cautiously optimistic. The SAC Holiday Tournament always felt unique and special, much different even than the ACAC and NECC tournaments, in part because of the multi-day event taking place under one roof.
We did not get any additional information on the new format. The implication seem to be that only the five FWCS schools will participate. That alone makes it far different than the SAC Tournament, where a field of 10 was used for most years.
That’s all well and good, but the FWCS Holiday Tournament isn’t THE SAC Holiday Tournament. We expect no Bishop Luers, no Bishop Dwenger, no Concordia, no Carroll and no Homestead. Just five boys teams and five girls teams doesn’t evoke quite the same energy.
What it will bring is still to be determined, so we will all wait and see and keep our fingers crossed that it is more boom than bust and a new tradition can be born. And kudos to the district and North Side and South Side athletic directors Andrew Klein and Torrey Curry for stepping up to the plate to host and making this a thing.
But c’mon FWCS, this isn’t the same thing, and pretending it is could be more detrimental than advantageous when it comes to the expectations of the old school hoops fans around the area.
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I agree with this post. This is NOT the SAC Tournament. Call it the Summit City Shootout instead. Those of us that enjoyed coaching, playing or watching the SAC Holiday Tournament knew what it meant and cleared our calendars to be a part of it! It’s a start trying to pull this off so I guess the FANS will speak their collective voices when the receipts are counted! Good luck!