CAVS Annual Winter Classic Tourney 2011: A Huge Success

Picture this: 91 Teams….and only around 6-7 gyms available…at best. 

However did we DO it? 

For starters, we lost two courts in the 99^th hour at Pierce College because of a maintenance emergency. Chatsworth (as you know) has been closed until January for remodeling. 

We found out (a little too close to comfort) that our once-reasonable gym fees had tripled, if not quadrupled and real estate companies (instead of the direct schools) were all in the mix trying to stir the Kool-Aid. Guess nobody told them.

You have to be a Kool-Aid drinker to actually appreciate it.

If we lost you on that, we'll call you back later.

However, the CAVS pulled the 2011 Annual Winter Classic Tourney, December 3rd-4th, 2011, off. 

Not only did they pull it off, CAVS 11U brought their championship home. 

CAVS 13U even finished as 2nd Place Champions in the final battle against the Playmakers.  I can’t hate on the Playmakers. They are pretty well-coached and they get after it. It is what it is.

CAVS 13U also played up as 14U and even made it to the final rounds in that division before relinquishing the semi-final win to NIT---which is, I must admit, a pretty good 14U team. Really can’t hate on them, either.

Okay…enough of that stuff, the REAL win happened in the Semi-Final game for the 13U division.  Remember how CAVS 13U finished 2nd to CA Heat at their Thanksgiving Tourney, November 19th & 20th, with the score of 47-45? Well, low and behold…CAVS 13U once again met CA Heat center court for the semi-final rounds this past weekend.  Yep. This rivalry will probably never end. 

CAVS 13U no doubt defeated CA Heat. 

Retribution. Enough said. Really.

So.....

With hardworking parent and staff volunteers, cooperative referees, parents showing up in droves and talented young players, the CAVS Winter Classic 2011 was a HUGE success, with the promise of being even larger in 2012. YEP.

I truly wish we could have photographed every team during their game play, but that was like…impossible. However, we did collect some great photos at some of the gyms and we have uploaded them all to our Facebook site HERE.  Enjoy!

Next year, we should probably do coffee, hot chocolate and tea for the Winter Classic in greater abundance than Gatorade. Don’t get me wrong. We can have Gatorade and water, too, but it was so cold in some of those gyms that you could probably freeze meat in the lobbies. Heck, SOUP probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.

THANK YOU to everyone who helped to make this year’s Winter Classic Tourney 2011 something that folks will be talking about for a while! Special “Shouts Out” to all those who should have been helping, giving love and service for the kids, but instead showed up and didn’t do a doggoned thing!! Did you think we forgot or just didn’t see you? Oh…we SAW you. YOU didn’t do ANYTHING. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Niente. Squat. You KNOW who you are. We see you!! 

Whatevs.

***We will see everybody in June, 2012, for the massive CAVS Summer Classic Tourney where things will be HOT in more ways than one!!!

This time…it’s gonna be nothing like you’ve ever seen before!  

GAME ON!!!

CAVS 13U Finish as 2nd Place Champions in 4th Annual Edge Christmas Tourney 2011

Second-place champions. 

Ahem. This is getting old, right? However, CAVS 13U played up against 14U teams this past weekend at the 4^th Annual Edge Christmas Tourney, December 10^th-11^th, 2011 at California High School in Whittier, CA.  To be playing UP, they really didn’t do too bad considering football is still going on for many (who couldn't finish out the tournament) and the entire group hasn’t been on their usual training grind just yet. In fact...not much gym time has transpired at all.

It’s probably why the 1^st Place championship title slipped from their hands by only one point. Why? We’ll get there. 

Here we go.

On Saturday at 9:15 am, CAVS met the 14U Prodigy Team center court and worked their way into a 49-28 victory.

At 11:15, CAVS 13U battled 14U Edge Black and defeated them, 45-19.

On Sunday, the battle was on, as CAVS 13U met up once again with the 14U Southeast Warriors. 

Last season, they stomped it out with the Warriors as 12U and it was quite a time. Let’s just say the older Warrior boys weren’t too happy about the loss to “the younger guys” then and they certainly weren’t, today, either. "Tensions" were high.....and that’s exactly what was most apparent in the semi-final game.  However....CAVS 13U scored the win, 53-25, anyway, placing them right into the championship game. WOOT!

It would all go down against the 14U Impact team at 1:00pm. 

Boy…was there a battle!

The score was 26-16 (CAVS up) one moment and 41-38 (Impact up) the next. It was a tug-of-war, tit-for-tat-kind of game. Finally, the clock ran out with Impact up, 47-46. 

 GAME OVER. 

All by one measly point. That just sucks, doesn't it?

Eh…it is what it is. Isn't that the general expression conveyed in this photo?

For the two teams that just happened to win by 1-2 points this season....better enjoy all this now. There are gonna be quite a few "surprises" coming down the pike....gift-wrapped and hand-delivered...all from CAVS 13U.

In the meantime....check out all of the photos from the Edge tourney on our Facebook site HERE.

CAVS 2012...U Ready? GAME ON!!

Actor Quinton Aaron Surprises CAVS Youth Basketball Kids During Volunteer Efforts at Homeless Dinner

The night was already phenomenal. 

Things opened up with prayer in both Spanish and English. There wasn’t an empty seat in the room. 

CAVS Youth Basketball kids as young as 7 up to age 14 served food, bagged bread and distributed diapers and other supplies for the sea of smiling, appreciative homeless families at Hope of The Valley Rescue Mission in North Hollywood, Thursday, December 8th, 2011.

Proud CAVS parents (who braved traffic just to arrive as early as 5:15pm) organized groups of CAVS kids for the efforts. 

CAVS kids prepare "take-home" care packages for homeless families.

 

Kids received explanations of exactly what it meant to help others in need.

Celene Culhaoglu explains to CAVS youth what giving is all about.

Rocky Peak Church cooked the food, while Rescue Mission employees made sure things ran smoothly. 

It was a good time had by all. The homeless families left with care packages, tables were cleared and stored, floors swept and mopped.

Then actor Quinton Aaron walked in.

OMG.

What a surprise! Mouths dropped as many of the CAVS kids recognized the actor right away. We certainly saw him clearly enough, as all 6-foot-8 feet of him bounded through the room, with a smile. Pens and multiple sheets of paper were immediately produced (one child even offered up a crayon) to retrieve Aaron’s autograph. Some nabbed him for separate shots.

Others didn’t even know his name, but recognized him from his role as Sandra Bullock’s adopted son in the critically acclaimed movie “The Blind Side”, based on football player Michael Oher.

No matter what....everyone was grateful.

“Quinton didn’t have to do it.” said CAVS Youth Basketball’s Membership Director, Deana Devereaux. 

 Erika Aldridge and Deana Devereaux

“He didn’t have to show up at all to meet our kids, as we were told after he'd arrived that he was already late for an appointment…but he did.  Quinton is humble and kind—a gentle giant. His heart’s in the right place.”

Quinton Aaron and CAVS Youth Basketball's Marcy Mengesha

It doesn’t hurt that Quinton Aaron is a huge (no pun intended) supporter of the Hope of The Valley Rescue Mission, as evident by his appearance alongside Cedric The Entertainer, R&B legend Jeffrey Osborne, former NBA sensation Jalen Rose, and former Laker Jerry West during the organization's homeless dinner event this past Thanksgiving, 2011. In fact, it is even rumored that the talented actor may become an official Ambassador for Hope of The Valley, which has served over 40,000 hot, nutritious meals, distributed over 16,000 articles of clothing, provided over 9,000 hygiene kits, 850 showers and numerous referrals for shelter—all in their first 24 months of operation, which originally began in 2009.

Truthfully? Quinton Aaron wasn’t even scheduled to appear at Hope of The Valley Thursday night. Why? Well, for starters, it wasn’t a celeb event. It was only supposed to be the CAVS kids feeding homeless families for the first time together. However, a slight mix-up in a media blurb spoke of Quinton's confirmed attendance anyway and he had to be invited at the last minute. Ha! We all know what that’s like. It’s the equivalent of chasing a needle in a haystack, or a speck of lint in a swimming pool. Busy celebs normally don’t respond in kind to 99^th hour invitations---some because they flat out don’t want to…and others because they are already tied up with something else.

Well…everyone from CAVS Youth Basketball and Hope of The Valley Rescue Mission is mighty glad one did respond.

We’ll just come on out and say it.

Quinton Aaron ROCKS!!

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­On behalf of CAVS Youth Basketball we’d like to thank the following people (besides Quinton Aaron, Raffles Entertainment and Sal & Chani Williams - which are all AMAZING, by the way!!) for making our kids’ very first (but certainly not the last) homeless volunteer effort a GREAT experience:

All of our dedicated CAVS parents who brought their kids to the event!! Thank you for your support!!

Jonathan Leeper, Ken Craft & The Entire Hope of The Valley Rescue Mission Staff & Volunteers

Sonya Marchand, Celene Culhaoglu, Ida Yenney, Rocky Peak Church

Deana Devereaux, Erika & Sean Aldridge, Annie Pender, Arminda Gonzalez

CAVS Coaches Darryl McDonald, Kris Walker and Mike Irving

A VERY SPECIAL thank you to all of our wonderful CAVS KIDS who lent their services to help all of the homeless families.

To all of the homeless families we had the pleasure of meeting: God loves you and so do we. Keep your heads up for a brighter day of change!

**To check out ALL event photos (including all photos above) please visit our Facebook Album HERE:

CAVS Youth Basketball. 

DON'T BE ORDINARY. GAME ON.