Bruce Watson, Bira Bindra, TJ Johal and Tony Wong-Hen always find time in their busy lives to ensure a summer hometown tradition lives on.
It was back in 1986 when the Steveston High grads got together with their cross-town rivals at Richmond High for an impromptu 4-on-4 basketball tournament at a tiny neighbourhood park on Dolphin Avenue — just north of Francis and Garden City Roads. Little did they realize one of the city’s best sporting events was born.
Decades and two venues later, the Dolphin Classic features some of the top men’s and women’s hoop talent in the province presented a festive atmosphere — complete with food trucks, a beer garden and music.
The three-day event at South Arm Park tips-off on Friday night and concludes Sunday with the women’s title game at 5 p.m., the popular slam dunk and three-point contest at 6 p.m. and the men’s final at 7:30 p.m. The forecast for spectacular summer weather should ensure big crowds throughout the weekend.
These days, the Dolphin co-founders are getting pulled in many directions with their family demands, jobs and other interests. Three of them no longer live in Richmond and it would be easy to say it’s time to pass the event onto someone else after 33 years. However, there is no certainty “someone else” is waiting.
Just look what has happened to the now-folded football program at Hugh Boyd following the retirement of iconic coaches Bill and Bruce Haddow after 40 years.
Fortunately, the passion continues to burn for these Packer grads to keep the Classic going with plenty of additional help these days.
“To me, it’s a reunion wrapped around a basketball tournament and that is what makes it so much fun,” explained Watson who always books a week of holidays before the event to make sure everything is organized. “The basketball is fantastic but it’s the social aspect that I really enjoy and I think keeps everyone coming back.
“There are people I may not talk to for a year but I know I’m going to get a chance to catch up with them at Dolphin.”
Watson is quick to praise the support of the city — led by the efforts of the tireless and ever-popular Paul “Sammy” Morizawa. This will be year three for the tournament at South Arm and the support of community centre staff Steve Mahon and Kevin Cromie has been tremendous.
Watson also singled out the work of Richmond Youth Basketball League (RYBL) coordinator Jessy Dhillon who runs a junior tournament that has become part of the Classic’s schedule and does much more. Other unsung heroes include longtime player and supporter Steve Lee who helps out with the scheduling, along with MC Harv Puni.
The Classic is also constantly evolving and this year welcomes the 13th annual Rally Rai Memorial Touch Football Tournament which will be taking place on the adjacent grass fields.
The tournament raises money for a bursary named after Rai, a former standout athlete at Richmond High. It had taken place in recent years at King George Park but now two terrific events have come together.
“It’s a great event but at a smaller scale than us. There is a real cross-over with a lot of the same people involved so we thought it would be a real good fit,” added Watson.
