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Tournament remembers student Teams from around Delta attend first event named after athlete
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, October 10, 2013
INUVIK
This year, the annual volleyball tournament at East Three School was less about competition and more about remembering.
Players and organizers in the Paulou Ittunga Volleyball Tournament, including Eric Church, left, Julius Dimaano, Chris Church, Kyle Ittungna, Matt Skinner, Christian Van Vliet, Brenda Ittungna, Jozef Semmler, Scott Ross, Kaidan McDonald and Will Logan, marked the opening of the event with the unveiling of the new banner in memory of an East Three student who died in 2012. - photo courtesy of Paula Guy
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The event was officially renamed the Paulou Ittunga Tournament by the organizers to commemorate the popular student and athlete who died in November 2012.
Tournament co-ordinator Eric Church spoke emotionally about the new name, as did East Three Secondary School principal Deb McGuire.
"He was a huge advocate for sport, particularly volleyball," Church said. "With the blessing of his parents and family, we were able to change the name of the tournament to the Paulou Ittunga Memorial Tournament, and we had a ceremony yesterday. It was a very touching and moving experience in line with what we think he would have wanted.
"All he wanted to do was play for the love of the game, and that's what we've seen here. People are playing for the sheer joy of being on the court."
Fifteen teams representing at least four communities played in the tournament. Two teams from Tuktoyaktuk flew in, Church said, but more impressive was an adult team from Aklavik who boated to Inuvik after their flight was cancelled.
"That's dedication and I appreciate it," Church said.
Other players were present from other communities as well, although not formally playing in teams, he said.
All together, perhaps 100 players were entered in the tournament. That's a testament to how popular volleyball is in Inuvik and the Delta.
Church said he suspected more teams might have come if the weather had been better. Heavy fog on Oct. 4 and 5 kept many planes grounded at the Inuvik airport.
"It's amazing, the growth we've seen in just three short years," Church said. "We've gone from having just one court to having three in use here at East Three for the tournament.
"We really see this as a community tournament, and that's the whole premise. We get kids from age 12 to adults more than 60 years old," Church said. "They're here to play volleyball and promote healthy living."
Geared toward fun
It's the 10th year for the tournament, which is geared more to fun than competition. That's not to say, though, that some intense competition doesn't occur in the heat of the game.
"I'd like to think that fun comes first," Church said. "If you can have a healthy balance between the two, you've succeeded somewhere, but fun is always an integral part of that equation.
"From time to time, we have spirited competition, sure, but it doesn't get away from us," he added. "That's part of being intense."
Christian Van Vliet was playing on one of the East Three teams entered in the tournament.
"We're playing in one of the community divisions against adults, so as a senior boys team, it's kind of challenging for us," Van Vliet said. "It's exciting and good practise for us before we go down to Yellowknife and play in a tournament there.
"I'd say we're doing all right," he said. "It can get very intense. I find it easier to play under pressure when the team pulls together."
He also spoke warmly of Ittunga, a friend and teammate who "we lost last year."
"It's just awesome to be here as a team and having fun."
As far as results go, in Pool A for adults, Jon Amos's team placed first ahead of Eric Cockney's team in second. In Pool B for 19 and under and 15 and under teams, the 19U Tuk team took first followed by the 15U East Three Secondary School boys team. In Pool C for 14 and under teams, two 14U East Three Secondary School girls teams took first and second place.
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