The Vermont Muench Family Blog

Taylor's 6th grade team won the Ed Glodzik tournament this year. Over two hundred kids participated and Taylor was named to all-tourney team! Watch the game in the video below and see what a fun tournament this is. Also included is the article from the newspaper and yes, that is Taylor's arm in the picture from the paper!







WEST RUTLAND -— Free basketballs falling from the rafters. A laser light show. A magic show. Balloon animals.

Is it halftime at the University of Vermont?

Nope, just business as usual at a 5th- and 6th-grade basketball tournament celebrating its 50th birthday.

Welcome to the 50th edition of the Ed Glodzik Memorial Tournament at West Rutland High School, a rite of winter that keeps fans, supporters and teams coming back even after a long season spent indoors.

The tournament that was first played in a bandbox gym nearby is still going strong and is as good, if not better, than ever. Eighteens teams converged on Hinchey Gymnasium when the tournament began last Sunday, with Friday's third-place and championship games bringing down the curtain on another successful celebration of b-ball in a little town known for a proud sporting heritage.

"This is our March Madness," Pat Loughan, the event's public address announcer, said. "A lot of (future) stars come out for this tournament. They all remember it."

That's because members of the West Rutland Booster Club realize the value of their signature event and try to keep things fresh and exciting.

"Now that this tournament has become what it's become a lot of teams have this right on their schedule," John Center, a former booster club president, said. "And that's what we've been aiming to do, to give them the opportunity to compete in a playoff-type atmosphere.

"A lot of people come to see this tournament who don't even have kids in this tournament."

The tournament was renamed for Glodzik, a Westside graduate and sports enthusiast, in 1989. Glodzik passed away in 1988 but his legacy lives on.

Loughan, whose son Pat Jr. played for West Rutland High teams, was a good friend of Glodzik and coached a local team that won the event the year it was renamed.

Members of his team asked Loughan whether they could dedicate the victory to Glodzik if they won the title.

"They weren't cocky, but they were confident," Loughan said.

"I was almost in tears. We're talking about fifth- and sixth-graders here."

Loughan, like many others, has been part of the tournament for decades.

Theresa McGinnis is one of the smiling faces greeting spectators at the admissions table.

"I come back for this because this is just so much fun," she said. "It's a social event."

And a very competitive one, showcasing players sure to be recognized at higher levels in years to come. But even these mighty-mites are capable of drama, like the Proctor player who sent a game into overtime Wednesday night with a nothing-but-net 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation time.

"The kids" keep me coming back, booster club president Mark Coderre said. "They enjoy this so much. You can see the looks on their faces and that's worth all the time and effort."

The boosters run the tournament like a big-time event. Copies of a reprinted story about Glodzik and the tournament provide spectators with a sense of its history. Every team member is listed in a program, which also includes a tournament bracket.

The boosters club is a classy group that puts the proceeds back into the tournament, and into Westside sports from kindergarten through high school.

In this special year, every player received a golden engraved commemorative medal. The volunteer officials, men who commonly work high school games, receive engraved golden whistles.

The crowning touch was Friday's third-place game and the title game, after which Annie Higgins, Glodzik's widow, handed out trophies befitting a high school state championship along with the Glodzik children, Bethany and Brian.

Magician "Mr. Phil" from Tilden, N.H., was hired to entertain the crowd Friday night and between the last game and the trophy presentation came the highlight of many youngsters' week as 100 free, regulation basketballs were dropped from the rafters.

The timing of the basketball giveaway was something the boosters tweaked after introducing it last year.

"All we heard (during the championship game) was bounce, bounce, bounce."

Just like the steady beat of this special event as it prepares for its second half-century.

bob.fredette@rutlandherald.com

It has been a very busy winter for our family and I have not had a chance to update the blog. Don't Leave is playing again and one of the highlights was having Weston's band ("Please Stay") share the stage with us. I also coached at the high school level for the first time in years. It was also the first time that I coached a girls team. It was the best experience that I have ever had coaching! Weston made the states in skiing and had a very successful season as did Taylor in basketball. Taylor was names all-tournament team twice this winter and single handedly outscored one of the teams we played. He scored 31 points and the team we played scored 30! Barb and I worked hard this winter (Barb worked harder than I did). In addition to her work at school Barb worked at Stratton Mt. on the weekends. I taught adult night classes in Psychology and Space exploration. CHeck out Weston's band below: