2019 Novice Basketball Tournament "La Classique des Citadins"
Big achievement for us!
On December 14 and 15, our novice boys and girls teams participated in their 1st competitive tournament ever!
It’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s a MAJOR achievement for us to participate in a tournament like this, much less field two teams!
To give you context, in 2017 we barely had enough novice players to run a practice. Now in 2019, we’ve got two novice teams, boys and girls, competing in tournaments against elite basketball programs!
Strong competition
For our group of 8-10 year olds, it was not only their first tournament but their very first time playing in organized games! It wasn’t an easy introduction as they faced some of the most experienced teams in Greater Montréal.
And we ain’t kidding! In their first game, the girls played against école Louisbourg. This school has an advanced basketball program and they have won many regional championships & tournaments at the mini and novice levels in the last 3 years. Meanwhile the boys faced off against DBC-Verdun (an elite team that plays in the Novice AAA division in the Montreal Basketball League with an undefeated 7-0 record ; they ended up winning the tournament easily with a +125 differential) and then the Cobras de Boucherville (who have two teams in the Novice A & AA divisions in the Circuit Basketball Québec league).
All of these teams have strong basketball programs that have existed for many years, and their teams play regularly in elite leagues. Talk about competition 
.
Terrific experience!
Despite the strong competition, our kids played GREAT!
They played with passion, effort and joy! They bonded together and ask them how much fun they had!
They were competitive in nearly every game and even won a few games themselves! That’s right, first time playing together and both the girls and boys managed to leave with a victory!
Imagine being 9 years old and playing your first tournament game? Scoring your first basket? Getting a steal? Taking your first free throws? These are moments that they will remember in 20 years!
More to come!
One of our goals this year was to introduce our kids to basketball tournaments. It’s an excellent way for them to learn how to play team basketball. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose, but they learn, grow and improve together.
This was their first tournament. We ain’t crazy, we weren’t expecting to win the tourney.
But what we did expect was this : we’re confident that the kids not only enjoyed themselves and bonded as a team, but that they learned a great deal through this experience. They faced different teams, found themselves in different situation, had their first taste of action and their first taste of both victory & defeat!
This was our first experience – and it was awesome – but it won’t be our last !
Some highlights
On Sunday, the girls competed against “Les Panthères de Rosemère”. They are another elite program in the Rive Nord area with teams in nearly every age group. It was an exciting game. Our girls held a big 19-4 lead but their opponents came back strong and the score was suddenly 19-16. Every possession was now crucial! The girls worked very hard defensively, resisting as best they could and they succeeded by holding on for a 21-18 win! Their first win!
On Sunday, the boys competed against “Les Cobras de Boucherville”. This program has two teams at the novice level. The boys played incredible, scoring 40+ points and playing very tenacious defence throughout the game. They had a blast and also picked up their first win!
Thank you to all the parents who helped coordinate and bring their kids to this fun weekend experience!
And thank you to our wonderful coach Fadi for being a great leader and teacher to these youngsters!
AGBU MTL Sports has never looked better !