The Ultimate Class Club Collab: Basketball Tournament 2023

On April 25th 2023, the Class Clubs of each grade joined forces with StudCo (Student Council) and CAB (Campus Activities Board) to create a fun and playful tournament for the IMSA community. The enrollment for the tournament cost five dollars per person, with the limit of 30 people per team. Each grade consisted of a team. Additionally, there was a team of StudCo x CAB. 

Dr. Brian Trainor as a referee. | Source: Megan Sia

The tournament consisted of 3 rounds with each game lasting ten minutes, allowing each team to compete against each other. The winning team of the tournament would win all of the profits of the event for their respective Class Club.  Furthermore, the winning team had the opportunity to play the Staff Team, composed of IMSA faculty, including teachers, administrators, and security. 

This tournament wasn’t like any other typical basketball tournament. There were also obstacles and incentives that the crowd could buy to support their team. There were different tiers of punishments. 

Tier 1: Price: $2

• One team member must wear a wig 

Tier 2:  Price: $5

• Two team members have their feet duct taped to the ground for 2 min
• A team member must hula-hoop for 1 min during the game
• One team member can only use one arm for 3 min of the game

Tier 3:  Price: $8

• Make a team immune for 3 minutes 
• Make two team members tie their legs together with a bandana – “3 legged”
• Make a team member sit out for 1 min, and for the entire minute they have to pretend they’re an animal
• Swap out a Varsity member player for 3 minutes 

During Round 1, the sophomores and juniors went head-to-head in a half-court game, with the juniors coming out victorious. At the other end of the court, the seniors went against StudCo x CAB, where the seniors took the win. 

During Round 2, the teams switched, and the games were sophomores versus seniors, and juniors versus StudCo x CAB. Similar to the last round, the juniors and seniors remained victorious in their games, thus setting up an exciting game where the two victorious teams would go against each other in Round 3.

Picture of Staff vs. Junior Game | Source: Megan Sia

Round 3 started off differently than the previous two with each game occurring as a full-court game. As Round 3 began, StudCo x CAB went against the sophomores. While the sophomores won, the crowd went wild as the new CAB director, Faizaan Shaikh (‘24), scored two half-court shots! Finally, the game that would decide the winning team began. It was a fierce game, with both teams going neck-to-neck. There were instances where either team was in the lead. Additionally, people in the crowd bought many punishments for both teams. In the last five seconds of the game, it looked like the teams would go into overtime as they were both tied. However, during those very last seconds, a junior scored a three-pointer, winning the money and opportunity to play against the Staff Team.

After completing three intensive games, the Junior Team came into the last round quite tired. The Staff Team utilized this opportunity, and they came in the lead during the first half. The beginning of the game was very close. However, in the end, the juniors were able to close the gap and complete their winning streak in the tournament. The final score of the staff against the juniors game was 32 – 25.