Schools and community gear up for a great weekend of hoops at the John Welsh Memorial Tournament

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[February 25, 2015]  LINCOLN - This weekend, the city of Lincoln may be bulging at the seams a little bit with an influx of visitors here to attend the annual John Welsh Memorial Tournament, hosted by the Lincoln Junior High School.

This year the basketball tournament has grown to 146 participating teams, the highest number ever, and has made the job of getting ready all the more complicated. The two point people on the tournament, District 27 Superintendent Kent Froebe and LJHS Principal Mike Workman are right now working almost 24/7 to set up game brackets, get volunteers organized, and prepare the local schools and the community for what is about to happen in Lincoln.

Due to the tournament's growth, two new locations have been added this year. Zion Lutheran School and Chester-East Lincoln will also offer their gymnasiums, bringing the total number of locations to nine. Workman said that without those two schools coming on board, to hold the tourney with 146 teams would not have been possible. He also gave kudos to Froebe, who just last Friday was able to get the two schools on board.

Workman said there is some debate on when and how the Trojan Tournament got started, but he is confident it has been going on at least for the last 15 years. It began simply as the Trojan Tournament hosted by LJHS. In the early days, John Welsh, a well-known and beloved teacher and coach in Logan County, was one of the driving forces behind the tournament.

When Welsh died in 2013, tournament organizers felt that it would be a fitting tribute to Welsh to re-name the tournament for him. Therefore, beginning in 2014 the Trojan Tournament became the John Welsh Memorial Tournament.

During the first half of the history of the tournament, Welsh was very much involved in its organization. Workman said that eight years ago, Welsh was phasing himself out of the planning, and Froebe and Workman began taking it on.

Froebe was the principal of LJHS and Workman the assistant. The two have worked together throughout the years and have developed a great balance. Workman noted that Froebe is the one who keeps looking to make the tournament bigger and better. “This is our biggest year ever. Before this our highest number was 116 teams. I thought that was our pinnacle. But it obviously wasn’t. Kent keep saying we can do more, we can bring in more, and we do.”

Mr. Froebe was recently moved from the LJHS principal position to the Superintendent of District 27 Schools. Workman said at the time, he wondered if Froebe would be able to stay involved with the tournament, and worried that he wouldn’t. However, Froebe is still all-in, and without him Workman said the tournament would not be what it is.

Workman also said the tournament would not be what it is without the massive number of volunteers who give their time to the weekend. He said they pull volunteers out of the woodwork for this one weekend, and everyone pitches in from parents, to staff to family members of staff, it is a massive organization behind the scenes.

He said parents are very much involved in the weekend. For some of them, he said it is a real sacrifice and challenge because they have kids involved in several things in the local schools. He noted some will go from one school activity to another throughout the weekend, but they still find time to give to the tournament.

In addition to the volunteers immediately involved in the tournament, the weekend also provides fundraising opportunities for other organizations through concessions. He said that organizations such as parent-teacher groups and booster clubs operate concessions in various locations. They offer a service to the guests at the tournament and also make some money for their organizations.

So what brings teams back year-after-year to Lincoln?

Workman said there are a lot of factors involved.

One important part of it is that the tournament is for all kids. “If they want to play, they play,” he said. Comparing this to other tournaments, he said the Lincoln tournament does not require that a team have a certain skill level, they don’t have to be all-star teams, though some of them will be. They don’t have to be AU or Amateur Athlete Union teams; they just have to want to play basketball. In addition, the tournament is not limited to school teams. Teams can be put together from a collection of schools or other youth organizations.

The tournament is also one of the least costly for participating teams. He said that for some, that is a big draw in that it doesn’t take a lot of dollars to enter a team, yet it is a top quality experience once they get here.

Location, Workman feels is also a big draw. Located in the center of the state, Lincoln is a great location for teams that travel from all over. He noted this year there are entries coming from Chicago, St. Louis, Carlyle and Clinton County, Starved Rock, and all points in-between in Illinois. There will also be participants coming from Terre Haute Indiana.

And, of course, the community is a draw as well. Workman noted that in the past, the people and businesses of Lincoln have been great ambassadors for the city. He said with all the visitors coming to town, it offers an opportunity for guests to see the community and appreciate what Lincoln has to offer.

Workman said that once again this year, he would ask the community to be good ambassadors. He said he would ask the people of Lincoln to be patient, flexible, and understanding. “We understand the draw creates traffic and long lines. I would say to the community; 'this is a great event for the kids and a great way to showcase our town and our community, the great community that Lincoln is.' More and more people travel here each year and get a chance to see what we are like; it is a great small town.”

As organizers, he said that he and Froebe do all that they can to get the word out to local businesses that they can expect an additional 5,000 or so folks to be in town this weekend. The businesses in turn prepare for the influx and have been able to serve the tournament goers very well.

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Workman said the local businesses have also gotten behind the tournament, lending their sponsorship. He said such sponsorship is important to the weekend, and in return, he and Froebe as well as others involved make every effort to steer visitors to those sponsoring businesses. They recommend restaurants for example based on sponsorship.

The organizers also bend over backward to accommodate the visiting teams. Workman explained that in the final days of preparing for the tournament, issues come up. A team can’t play at a certain time of day, or they must play at a certain time because of their travel schedule. “It becomes a giant jigsaw puzzle that we have to piece together,” Workman said. In the tournament, the guarantee that each team will play three games in two days. Couple that promise with the promise of equally match competitors, and it becomes a huge challenge.

While it is a challenge, for Froebe and Workman, it is a very worthwhile one. “We want them to come back, we love the challenge of this, and we want it to grow,” he said.

Who benefits financially from the tournament?

Workman said the answer is simple….the students of Lincoln Junior High School, and the organizations that tag team their fundraisers with the tournament.

For the junior high specifically, Workman said he’s not sure anyone, not even the students realize how important the event is. He noted in Illinois, there is a crunch on funding for school programs. He explained that the dollars gained from the tournament are often the difference between him having to say ‘no’ or getting to say ‘yes’ to a program request.

Workman explained that the money raised is not limited to use by the athletic department. Any school activity that needs funding can ask. The request has to be approved by the principal, but he is thankful that on many occasions, he can give teachers, coaches, or sponsors what they need to enhance the student experience and further student education.

Workman said one of the most important things he wanted to say now is “Thank you!”

“I can’t give enough credit to the volunteers,” Workman said. We feel such gratitude and appreciation for each one. I can’t name them all, there are so many, but we want to say that without them, this could not be done. We don’t broadcast this, so I don’t think even our students understand the importance of this fundraiser for our school. But, if you don’t have people, you can’t bring in the money. They are all so important.”

About the tournament

The John Welsh Memorial Tournament will begin at 9 a.m. this Saturday morning and run through 6 p.m. Sunday evening.

Teams will be placed in various school gymnasiums throughout the city according to grade level. For those who are interested in a particular age group, this will make it more convenient as they will be able to stay in one location for most of the tournament. The exceptions may be in the final championship games, and fans should look to the various bracket sheets for the games they are interested in seeing.

Where

Participating schools where games will be played are Carroll Catholic School, Central Grade School, Chester-East Lincoln, Lincoln College Davidson-Sheffer Gymnasium, Lincoln College Lincoln Center Gymnasium, Lincoln Community High School, Lincoln Junior High School, Washington Monroe Grade School, West Lincoln-Broadwell and Zion Lutheran School.

Each game will consist of four 10-minute quarters with the clock running. New games will begin every hour on the hour. Each team is guaranteed three games during the tournament.

Participating grade levels are third through eighth for the boys’ teams, and fourth through eighth for the girls. Workman said the tournament is open to third grade girl’s teams but to date, they have never had a third grade girl’s team register.

Who is playing when and where

Bracket sheets will be available at all locations and are also available on the official tournament website http://lincolnjhs27.homestead.com /pages/TournamentBrackets.html 

Workman said the game referees are paid professionals, not volunteers. In addition, the timekeepers will be paid individuals. He thanked Coach Alexander of the Lincoln Community High School for helping provide those timekeepers. Scorekeepers are to be provided by the individual teams.

The local schools all provide their gymnasiums free of charge for the tournament with the exception of this year Lincoln College. Workman explained the tournament will pay for use of the Lincoln Center, but the College is giving them use of the Davidson-Sheffer gymnasium free of charge.

Workman also noted that for some of these teams, the excitement of getting to play on a particular court is a big draw. He said for those who have played throughout the years, to work their way to the basketball court of the Lincoln Railsplitters or the Lincoln College Lynx adds to the quality of the experience.

Without these schools helping, again, the tournament would not be what it is today.

[Nila Smith]

 

 

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