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As players, coaches and fans return to arenas across the state for the high school basketball tournament, it’s hard not to reflect on the people inside — and what they have been through the last couple of years.
They are moms and dads, brothers and sisters, grandparents, cousins, family friends, classmates and fans who cheer on the team. And they’re all rebounding after a year without this tournament tradition. The 2021 event was canceled because of COVID-19.
“I am really excited to have it back for the kids, the fans, the parents and everyone involved in it. It is such a huge thing that everybody looks forward to,” referee Tracie Martin, who has also participated in the tournament as a player and coach, told BDN sports writer Larry Mahoney. “People take the week off to go. It’s a great community thing for everybody. They get to support their teams and see people they haven’t seen in a while.”
Amid nearly two years of pandemic unease, a more familiar — perhaps even welcome — kind of anxiety is returning to the tournament venues in Bangor, Augusta and Portland. Mom and dad may be fretting for their child. He or she is nervous, they know, about the big game. Will he get some floor time? Will she make the right switch on defense? Inside the auditorium, the parents are the ones with tightened, thin lips, brows furrowed, eyes anxiously scanning the floor, silently offering up a prayer that their daughter or son plays well. The young athlete’s case of nerves likely was confessed at home, but during the pregame layup drill it doesn’t show because it’s time to put on the swagger. Confidence, after all, is the companion of champions.
The extended family members are probably less fretful and are more likely to beam with pride when the family name is announced over the PA system. Whatever the final score is, family members are going to be more proud than they were at tipoff. Theirs is an essential role in this drama, offering a hug or an attaboy at the after-game meal. They echo the accolades, whether it’s a win or a loss. Family, friends and classmates are on the edge of their seats during overtime nail biters. They cheer for the surprise upsets.
And then there are the folks who have historically been fixtures at the hometown high school gym each Friday or Saturday night. No one is really sure — are they related to one of the ballplayers? Long ago, did a son or daughter trot up and down these hardwood floors and the habit of attending stuck? Or is it that they just enjoy witnessing the amateur ballet and epic battle that is a high school basketball game?
They, too, play a critical role. And so do the tournament workers who make it all possible. Together, the whole event is a great example of the many people who hold our communities together.
Allan Snell started working at the Bangor Auditorium in 1977 and has done a number of jobs, including his current role as the co-site director at the Cross Insurance Center for the Classes B, C and D North tournaments.
“I love working with the same people and the whole atmosphere,” Snell told Mahoney. “It’s so much fun, particularly the northern Maine tournament because we all have a lot in common. You watch kids whose parents played here or, in my case, maybe even their grandparents.”
This atmosphere is Maine at its best ( don’t ruin it by yelling at the referees, and follow venue COVID-19 policies). After being benched for a year, it is time to enjoy the high school basketball tournament once again.
