Every day, Forest Lawn youth test their basketball skills at Forest Lawn Community Park, which is marked with legendary NBA player Kobe Bryant’s No. 24 jersey and colors.

But this year, players were faced with a much greater challenge.

For the second consecutive year, the Centre for Newcomers (CFN), Calgary Surge and Real ME Youth Services hosted a three-way basketball tournament for area high school students on July 20.

CFN Youth Services Director Noël Bahliby said the location of this year’s event, instead of in front of the Newcomers Center like in 2023, was to appeal more to the community.

“Last year, Calgary Surge approached us and wanted to see how we could get more community involvement. We went back and forth on how that could happen, so we had a three-on-three tournament right in front of our building, right at the front door. It was really hectic, really fun, and we had a pretty good turnout,” Bahliby said.

“We really thought about how we could get a little bit more involved in the community, so we chose Forest Lawn Community Park. We got a lot of players out, we got some great donations for the Planet Youth partnership, we donated to BRDGE to provide food, and we really saw how we could revitalize some of these communities that don’t have a lot of opportunities for these specific live events to happen.”

Bahliby said that when the DJ turned on the music, the doors of the houses on the edge of the park opened and hundreds of children wanted to join the show.

10 teams signed up for the tournament throughout the day and prizes were given out to the winners at the end. But before that, something really fun was organised for everyone.

Communication through teamwork

One of the competitors, Heran Tsegay, said the tournament was “crazy fun.”

“I was paired with two people who didn’t speak English, but it was fine. We communicated through teamwork and it was actually a lot of fun,” Tsegay said.

“This is a good place to make new friends, make new connections, meet new people and really find common ground.”

Bahliby said in addition to hosting the tournament for local youth, the goal is to show the Calgary community that events like the trios are possible.

“I think there’s still a lot of misunderstanding about what Forest Lawn is, what the community looks like, what the northeast and the upper southeast are,” he said.

“Part of changing that attitude is coming here and getting these youth and kids involved. It doesn’t matter where they’re from or what their background is, they all want to have fun. They all want access to opportunities. So we’re really trying to combat those attitudes, but we’re also trying to see how we can revitalize them and get people to think, ‘hey, you should have your own community event here.'”

Councillor Courtney Walcott, an award-winning basketball coach who previously worked as an educator at Western Canada High School, said she attended the tournament to support the growth of basketball in Calgary.

“A huge part of it for me is actually growing the game in a community that has a lot of interest in the game, and you do that in an area where when you look at the rest of the city, when you look at some of the brighter parts, you’re overlooking some of the places that really need attention, volunteering and love from a big organization like Surge,” Walcott said.

He said Forest Lawn is a community that loves the Calgary Surge more than most, and providing young people with the opportunity to play basketball and interact with professional basketball players is very important.

“When you think about where the basketball fans in the city come from, that’s where a lot of them come from. So being able to give people an opportunity to engage with the Surge without having to pay for a ticket to go to WinSport,” Walcott said.

“Sometimes I can barely get to WinSport, so I can only imagine what it means for Calgarians to go there. So, Surge’s commitment to the community, especially one that loves them so much, is important.”

As a city, he said, there is still work to be done to create activities that directly target children and to establish more community organizations that directly serve youth.

“I think a lot of times there’s an agenda, a purpose. Sometimes the best thing you can do for a community is to give them some entertainment, especially right outside their door, in a safe and enjoyable place,” Walcott said.

Bahliby said CFN will hold the tournament at a community location again in 2025.

“We’ve actually had a few people come up to us and say they heard about us through social media and wanted to know how they could partner. Next year, it’s going to be a little bit bigger and we’re definitely going to keep it in the Forest Lawn location and see how we can continue to grow it.”

Among those goals, he said, is to include other community organizations to see how they can contribute to a larger tournament.