GREC hosts its first-ever EOSSAA championship tournament

Craig Bakay | Feb 27, 2019

Although the Gryphons weren’t in the tournament, the Granite Ridge Education Centre did host its first-ever EOSSAA championship tourney last Friday in Sharbot Lake.

“It’s the first time GREC or Sharbot Lake has hosted EOSSAA at any level,” said lead convener Ben Moser, who organized the event along with Mel Robinson and Liz Steele-Drew. “Originally, we were hoping our girls would be here, knowing that we had a fairly strong team.

“But there aren’t many single-A schools that have this facility.”

Ernestown Secondary School was the KASSAA single-A representative at the tournament.

But the experience was invaluable, Moser said.

“Going through this once, you get a better sense of the unknown,” he said. “You have to put a bid in to host and we’ll know what to expect for future bids.”

He said they had about 20 student helpers and his senior leadership class took on the majority of tasks — from making banners and programs to being team ambassadors.

“But everybody at the school helped out,” he said. “In a K-12 school, everybody has to be on board — gym classes get changed and you need flexibility and support from everyone including the full staff and school and the parent council chipped in as well.”

The school to community class took care of food and even the younger grades made a contribution as an audience.

“The students got quite involved watching,” he said. “The elementary kids were cheering everything and it was a unique energy.

“Our student helpers were amazing, we knew they were going to be, but I think they exceeded our expectations.

“We (teachers) were able to sit back and let them do their thing. It was hands off and hassle-free.”

Moser also had praise for principal James McDonald.

“He was a big supporter,” Moser said. “He had to do a lot of re-arranging.”

“It’s so nice to have the facility to hold something like this,” McDonald said. “We’ve hosted many events but they’ve all been community based.

“This involved many coaches and students.”