SJND Lunch Basketball with Mr. Fong
Written by Ethan P. ‘27
Have you ever thought about playing basketball but were not 100% sure if you should go for it? Or, you just wanted to be active and hangout with your friends during lunch? Well, Mr. Fong has created a basketball tournament league that he personally runs and allows you to play during lunch every week. Today, we’ll break down his motivations, definitions, and why you should join this tournament!
The motivation started about 10 years ago when it was just informal pick up games at lunch time. From here, Mr. Fong got the idea to start an official league so students could have fun and participate in tournaments by playing against each other. Now, when the lunch time bell rings, we can see how the gym fills up with students and the environment sparks alive. To decipher what encouraged him to start this league, I asked what basketball meant to him:
“Friendship, teamwork, good exercise, and to just feel good after you play because your blood gets moving through your body, and after the games you feel kind of refreshed and ready for the second half of our day,” stated Mr. Fong.
As we analyze the meaning of basketball, we can see that Mr. Fong really embraces it as he is all about friendship, teamwork and a sense of motivation at the end of the day. This lunch-time basketball league is a great opportunity for students to hang out with friends, get to know teammates, and build relationships. As a bonus, if you play basketball or are even thinking about playing basketball, you can get to know and bond with your teammates for the upcoming season.
Mr Fong states, “It’s a really raw and gritty street basketball vibe with everyone going at it. Then their friends (teammates) standing on the sidelines lined up on the courts right in their face and it’s kind of like New York street basketball. I think it’s nice to bring that to the gym and the students.”
Mr. Fong is very dedicated to this league and is all about the kindness and enthusiasm that goes on in these courts. Participating in a setting like this can not only help your focus in tough situations, but can also get you pumped up for the sport itself.
In conclusion, we can see that joining this league is a very self improving experience that will allow you to create and strengthen friendships, generate awareness, and inspire you to be active and play more. Joining will be a good experience for your self improvement, and hopefully after you try this out, you’ll be open to more opportunities in this year’s SJND basketball teams.
For more on lunch basketball at SJND, check out this analysis and discussion podcast hosted by juniors Landon C, Greyson M, and Eduardo C:
