Hudson Valley’s Annual Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament
The Coaches vs. Cancer program is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The initiative is to recognize the personal experiences, community leadership, and professional excellence of coaches nationwide to help increase cancer awareness.
Many high schools in the Hudson Valley, including Beacon, Arlington, Ketcham, John Jay, Poughkeepsie and New Paltz, made sure to get in on the action.
The tournament was hosted by both John Jay High School on Saturday, and SUNY New Paltz on Sunday during the last weekend in January.
Last Saturday’s slate of games was highlighted by a well-known rivalry in the area: the Ketcham Indians going up against the John Jay Patriots. Both teams had their fans fired up and managed to put on quite a performance to cap off an exciting first day of the tournament. The Indians were able to defeat the Patriots, but both teams were well aware that for just this one time, the scoreboard was not the most important element to their match-up.
On to Sunday’s action, the slate of games were able to save the best for last, when those same John Jay Patriots battled the New Paltz Huguenots at SUNY New Paltz in front of a packed house.
“It’s always fun to play against John Jay,” New Paltz head coach Stuart Robinson said after the game. “And to be able to get the Sunday night game at the college, in an atmosphere like this, it simply does not get much better than that.”
The Huguenots won a defensive battle, 55–53.
John Jay’s head coach, Terry Feeley, was very pleased by the effort his team showed out on the court in back-to-back nights, despite finishing the weekend without a win.
“I thought the boys played really well,” he said. “We certainly had our chances at the end and just came up a little short.”
In addition to the tournament, the last week in January was also Suits and Sneakers Week, a nationwide event where coaches and their staff wear sneakers on game days with suits.
This is to raise awareness and funds, and to encourage people to educate themselves about cancer prevention, screening and early detection. Suits and Sneakers Week was in full effect in the Hudson Valley throughout the tournament.
