Block Party’s Second Year at Hamber

Photo Credit: Evîn Jaaf

For the second year in a row, Hamber Athletics hosted Block Party, a volleyball tournament involving the Senior Girls, Senior Boys, Junior Girls, and Junior Boys teams. This year’s tournament took on a new level of excitement, attracting a much larger audience and providing an exciting experience for students to partake in.

Last year, the tournament only ran for one day and was hosted after school hours. However, this year the tournament ran both during and after school and spanned over two days, from Oct. 23 to 24. Teams were invited from across Metro Vancouver and were placed in three different pools: A, B, and C.

Pool A housed the girls’ teams, including Hamber’s junior and senior teams, Templeton Secondary, and H.J. Cambie Secondary. The boys’ teams were divided into two pools, but eventually combined during the playoffs. Along with Hamber’s boys teams, other schools in the boys’ bracket included St. George’s, Fraser Heights, Van Tech, Windermere, Sentinel, and St. John’s.

During pool play, teams played two sets compared to the usual three, with a hard cap at 25 points. To decide who went to the playoffs, a standard point differential was used.

After two days of gameplay, the St. George’s boys’ team placed first in the boys’ bracket, with the senior and junior boys’ teams placing fifth and seventh, respectively. Templeton took the winning spot in the girls’ bracket, while the Hamber seniors and juniors snagged the second and third place spots.

The games that took place during school hours housed bleachers full of students who came to watch with their classes. For many players, these were some of the biggest crowds they had played in front of at their own school.

Evan Kwoo (12), a player for the senior boys, found the games both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. “I tried not to focus too much on the crowd because I knew it would make me nervous, but it was pretty hard to ignore,” Kwoo shared. "I kept telling myself to just focus on the game and to not play differently to try to impress the crowd or anything.” 

Kwoo also said that the energy of the crowd brought a new level of intensity to the game and pushed his team to perform their best.

The tournament also gave the teams a chance to meet and connect with students both at their school and across Vancouver.

“A highlight [for me] was when the crowd cheered when there was a really good play,” Yuree Na (11) shared. “During the final, the senior boys cheered for the senior girls [and] it was really nice and it [felt] like we had a lot of school spirit.”

Kaylen Yip (12) expressed that at first he was nervous about the experience, but once he started playing everything, became calmer and he was able to focus on his team. 

“When we were playing Van Tech, I got a block in front of everyone,” Yip shared. “I got a huge adrenaline rush from what happened [...] and the moment felt very nice.”

Involvement in the tournament was not limited to those playing on the court. Hamber’s iconic mascot costumes were used by students, leading cheers for the home teams. There was even a concession stand selling everything from Gatorade to Pizza Hut outside of the main gym. The concession was run by rotating players from the senior teams and willing volunteers from the leadership classes.

Students also partook in different duties, like scorekeeping and social media management. Elizabeth Le (12), a manager for the senior girls, spent her time at the tournament filming Instagram clips and updating the scoreboard. She shared that despite the long hours at the tournament, she “felt like [she] was able to build a stronger connection with the team.”

While Block Party isn’t quite yet at the level of the Midtown Showdown — Hamber’s annual basketball tournament that attracts teams from all across the province — it has the potential to grow into something of a similar level. 

In the future, Kwoo hopes that “the band could come out, and leadership or dance students could be involved in doing performances between sets or matches.” As students become more familiar with the game, he is optimistic that they will be able to participate in more chants to support the teams. 

Many players expect that Block Party will continue as a yearly tradition. Yipanticipates that people will start to look forward to the tournament as a memorable Hamber event. “I hope it can [help] Hamber become more well known as a school,” Yip shared, emphasizing that volleyball is still a sport that is growing in popularity.