Midtown Showdown’s Biggest Year Yet
Photo Credit: Tony Chow
Hamber’s Midtown Showdown (MTSD) was first hosted in 2011. Now, Hamber’s new building has enabled 24 teams from across the Lower Mainland to compete from Jan. 23–25.
“Having more space and having the size of those two gyms working together allowed us to invite more teams, and that definitely changed the face of the tournament,” said Ms. J. Polukoshko (English), who coaches the Senior Girls team.
The event became a showcase for other groups. Dancers performed during halftime, the school band played by the bleachers at breaks, scorekeepers worked diligently from the sidelines, and the cheerleading club displayed their routines for the crowd. Hand-painted posters were hung up around the gym for the participating teams and each Hamber player.
“Our aim was to keep the spirit during the games, hype the audience up, and entertain the audience at the halftimes,” cheerleader Ece Ustun (9) said. “I really loved it, especially when we were cheering for Hamber games because the audience was also cheering with us!”
William Wang (9) played in the band during breaks in the tournament. While he found that the energy of the crowd was much more intense than in his other performances, he said, “It wasn’t really that hard to focus and it actually helped instead. The energy from everyone sort of drove and fueled our spirits.”
At halftime, Samantha Marasigan (9) was a part of the dance team’s performance. “Midtown actually was a separate thing away from our dance class,” she shared. “[It] allowed me to push myself harder than in our regular class because of the harder choreo and other inspiring dancers. Most of them were in grade 12, and I really looked up to them because of their talent.”
“It’s neat that you’ve got an event that allows everybody to showcase their talent and ability,” said Athletic Director Mr. I. Sehmbi (Physical Health Education). “I think that’s the biggest thing, that it’s not just a basketball tournament anymore. It’s a community event, and that’s what makes it special.”
The tournament’s halftime events celebrated the vibrant spirit of Hamber, bringing attention to its many individuals — including spectators and couples.
“My highlight was when I won the halftime game this year,” said Caitlyn Yu (10), who watched the tournament during her math block and at lunch. “It started when my friend wanted to try the mini-game [a dribbling and layup race] and I was like ‘I’ll do it if you do it.’”
A Midtown tradition, Jake Jang (12) promposed to Sharmaine Justol (12) during a halftime game. Jang emerged from an equipment room with a poster and flowers, singing along to Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die with a Smile.”
“Jake singing was definitely a surprise!” Justol said. “I had jokingly told him that he should sing to me in front of the whole school since we both liked a scene from the movie, 10 Things I Hate About You, where the male lead sings to the female lead in front of the whole school.”
When Jang started singing, the crowd went wild, waving their phone flashlights with the music, turning the bleachers into a sea of shimmering stars.
“The crowd’s reaction was really cute to me because they were cheering for Jake’s promposal,” Justol added. “And that for sure made me feel very happy!”
Meanwhile, even the new bleachers had difficulty containing the crowds of students hoping to watch. For the games that occurred during class time, spaces were limited to the first classes who signed up. Many students weren’t able to find spots in the bleachers, and instead watched games through a window overlooking the gym on the second floor.
“You could see much more up where the window is,” said Sam Yip (9). “I think it was much calmer and much less crowded, and I didn’t need to get through a lot of people on the bleachers to leave.”
Stephanie Lee (9) caught games during a class in the morning. “I was really excited to watch Midtown for the first time in the new gym! The largest highlights for me were the halftime games and the last thirty seconds of each match — there was some pretty intense competition.”
As hosts of the tournament, Hamberities can easily get involved with Midtown. “A lot of the teams that come to our tournament are absolutely blown away by the school spirit that we have,” Ms. Polukoshko added. “They’re like, ‘we’ve never seen anything like this before’, and ‘this is so exciting!’ One of the teams stayed in the gym the entire day. On the last day, they just hung out in the gym and watched every single game.”
All this would not have been possible without Hamber’s BA Leadership classes, alongside Mr. Sembhi and Ms. Polukoshko.
“We scheduled the halftime shows, organized the concession, and made sure the tournament ran smoothly. We had to stay on-site the entire tournament," Leadership student Marc Solymosi (12) said.
Along with organizing the event, students also promoted the tournament in school and online. “My role in organizing midtown was concession and posters,” said Kieran Rooke (12), another Leadership student. “I also helped with videos and @hamberathletics.”
West Van Secondary placed first in the boy’s tournament, while Hamber placed fourth. Hamber’s girls achieved 6th place, with South Delta Secondary taking gold.
“I felt good because 6th isn’t too bad but it was also somewhat disappointing because I felt that as a team, we definitely could have played better in the games where it counted the most,” said Senior Girls player Kristin Poon (11).
Though there were challenges, Poon still had an unforgettable time at her first Midtown Showdown.
“My teammates and coaches are super supportive and will always push me to do better,” she said. “During the tournament, there were definitely some highs and lows, but no matter the situation my peers always believed in me and that’s something that pushed me to do better and improve my performance. I also enjoyed seeing our school community come out to cheer us and the boys on. The atmosphere was overall super fun and especially exciting in the new school.”
Sierra Olak (12) and Alex Markus (11) were awarded Tournament All-Stars for Hamber’s teams, while Kieran Rooke (12) and Tayler Ingram (12) received the Best Defensive Award.
“We played good but could’ve gone farther and gotten into the Top 3,” Markus reflected. “My teammates had a lot of energy and our coach helped us stay in games by calling plays at the right times.”
Rooke recalled that in “one of the games against Van Tech, I played very well, getting six or seven steals against the other team, putting us ahead to win the game.” He added, “My teammates helped motivate me, especially Avi Bharti (12) and [my coach], Akam Bains. Both inspired me to keep pushing when things were tough. When I got the award they both congratulated me, stating how proud they were.”
The Most Inspirational Award was awarded to Ayden McGee (12) and Teagan Nichol (12) for their heart, determination, spirit, and teamwork.
Mr. Sehmbi shared how this year’s Senior Boys team only had four grade 12 players in total. These players didn’t get to play in grade 8 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in grade 9, only six of them made the grade 9/10 team. For one of the grade 12s, this was his first year playing Hamber basketball. “For me,” Mr. Sehmbi said, “that’s a legacy of resilience [...] and commitment.”
“Before Midtown happens, everyone’s really nervous… There’s always a little bit of wondering about how our athletes are going to respond to it. Are they going to be scared when they play, or are they going to flourish and play really well?” Ms. Polukoshko said. “And my team this year, there were nerves in the practice beforehand, but they just really did a good job, and they were confident playing in front of the crowd, which is really great to see.”
Both Ms. Polukoshko and Mr. Sembhi feel positively about the future of basketball at Hamber.
“I think the future’s really bright for Hamber basketball,” shared Mr. Sembhi. “I know there’s a lot of talent and both the girls’ and boys’ sides of basketball and grade 8 teams are great.”
Ms. Polukoshko encourages everyone interested in basketball to try out, even if they’re unsure about whether they’ll make it. “Just give it a go, you can’t lose anything from it,” she said. “Even if you don’t make the team, you might make it the next year, or if you don’t make the team, you still have an opportunity to be a manager. There’s so many ways to get involved in athletics and I highly suggest getting involved.”