Shootout - somehow - came together

The first of the Sisters Park & Recreation District's Sisters Shootout Basketball Tournaments in 2017 got off to a more stressful start than usual.

Following the collapse of an elementary school roof in Bend, a chain reaction of precautionary measures rolled through the schools of Central Oregon.

"On the evening of Thursday, January 12, we all got the call that the schools were closing pending a structural inspection," said SPRD Executive Director Liam Hughes. "Fortunately, I had just got done shoveling snow at my house for about three hours, so I was too exhausted for this news to send my stress levels high enough to put me over the edge. This is one of the many times in my life where I am convinced that physical exertion is the only thing that kept me sane."

SPRD had 43 teams coming in to play in a tournament starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, and as of Thursday night SPRD did not know if they were going to be able to play or not.

Hughes noted that "43 teams equals somewhere between 400 and 700 players, which in turn would mean about 800-1,400 parents. Throw in step-dads, grandparents, and aunts and uncles, and we are talking about close to 3,000 people who already have plans to make the trip to town. Some have traveled from hundreds of miles away and have expensive rental accommodation already paid for. So at this point I am sitting there assuming all will probably want our heads on a stick if we cancel on them this late.

"This was also our first tournament after I officially stepped down as tournament director and passed the reins to our program coordinator Kelly Crowther, which made me feel very guilty that I had handed him such a hot potato," Hughes said.

On Friday, SPRD got word that a structural engineer had cleared the buildings for use, and they were able to send out an email confirming the tournament was still on.

Only one team was a no-show.

Funds raised at the tournament go to the Sisters boys basketball program. SPRD is contracted to manage the event. On the day of the event all the high school players work the scorers tables, with the high school coaches and parents taking spectator entry fees. SPRD staff handle the scheduling and tournament director duties.

"Over the years it has been a great partnership not only for the school team and the parks and recreation district, but for all the businesses of Sisters who benefit from the thousands of visitors these tournaments bring to town every year," Hughes said.

This year, an influx of visitors was particularly welcome, as many businesses have felt a deep chill as cold and snowfall kept customers away (see story, page 9).