Last weekend the Queens PEC hosted one of the highlights of the Belfast basketball calendar; the Golden Popcorn Invitational Tournament. On Saturday nine teams competed in what was a highly competitive and very enjoyable competition, with the spoils eventually going to Team Sports Management, a team of Americans coached by Noam Fishman. More importantly however, the competition played host to the first ever FCP derby when the Belfast Tropics took on Queens in what was to be a decisive qualifying match. Colin and TJ lined out for Queens, a team normally coached by Ed White who was himself lining out for the Tropics alongside Kyle and myself. Emily felt horribly conflicted throughout the confrontation, and was thankful for her neutral role behind the camera in what has been described as "The greatest defensive slugfest since the Battle of the Somme" or less kindly as "a crime against offensive basketball". The FCP coaches set the tone, and in the end the Tropics prevailed despite Colin's feisty heroics and TJ's commanding presence. It was a fun game for all and played in very good spirits, one accidental headbutt of TJ by me aside. The Tropics then advanced to the semi-final where we put up a spirited performance against a team of division 1 American basketball players.

On a less personal but far more relevant note, Sunday saw the hosting of a coaching clinic by former NBA coach Tom Newell. He worked with two groups of players, firstly some younger ones including several players involved in our FCP programs. He concentrated on fundamentals of shooting and ballhandling with them, although he found time to teach some of the more advanced players some excellent offensive moves. Secondly he took a session with the Rockets team who play girls basketball to a high level here in Belfast. This was far more advanced and focused on passing, a skill which is often neglected in the coaching of youth players. Throughout the session Tom stressed court vision and using both hands and us coaches were able to witness some innovative drills which provided plenty of food for thought. He capped the day off by handing out basketball pencils to all participants, making a profound comment about how the eraser on a pencil was a psychological metaphor in that any mistake made could be erased at the other end of the court by hustling even harder. This was the parting comment, and the wisdom of it showed the type of person that it takes to become a truly great coach. This optimistic note was the perfect end to what had been a tiring but fun weekend.

Overall we were very pleased with the tournament and the coaching clinic which followed. All the feedback was positive and it was an excellent platform to promote all the important work we do as an organisation. Now that the dust has settled and the visitors have flown home though it's back to work, and heading into the schools again Monday morning there was no doubt in our minds that there was nowhere we'd rather be.

Signing off,

Ben Honan