Basketball
Thanks
updated: 8/23/2007
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2007
Nikkei
Games Basketball Thanks updated: 8/23/2007 |
| Dear Coaches and Team Reps, Thank you for participating in the 2007 Nikkei Games 3-on-3 youth basketball tournament. This year's tournament covered two days, had 89 divisions, 356 teams and about 1,400 participants, making it one of the largest tournaments ever. We gave out nearly 1,100 medals and awards this weekend. It was through your participation and support that made the tournament possible. We are very thankful and appreciative of your support. We trust that you, your teams and families and friends had a great time. Hopefully, they enjoyed the venue - the beautiful CSULB Pyramid, as well as the excitement and fast-paced games of the 3-on-3 half court format. For those of you that were at the Opening Ceremonies, we trust you enjoyed the beautiful singing of Lauren Hanako Kinkade, 2001 Nisei Week Queen and accomplished vocalist. We also hope you and your families enjoyed the Parade of Athletes. We think the kids had a great time marching into the Pyramid behind their respective organization's placard. Perhaps the highlight of the ceremonies was the dazzling ballhandling exhibition by some Orange County varsity basketball players and "up and comers". We hope you and the kids enjoyed meeting Alternate Public Defender Janice Fukai, the first Asian American woman department head in L.A. County history and Coach Harvey Kitani, the 2007 California State High School Basketball Coach of the Year, and listening to their words of wisdom and encouragement about basketball, the Nikkei commmunity and life. Both are great role models for our kids. We also hope you enjoyed the Taiko performances of Kodama Taiko of Pasadena. For those of you that could not make it, we think you really missed out on an exciting 60 minutes. In keeping with the legacy our Nikkei Games forefathers started over 75 years ago, our goal is to create an environment for having healthy competition and building lasting friendships. We also endeavor to celebrate the Japanese traditions of our past and preserve them for our future. Remember our motto: "The Nikkei Games: Games for the Generations". We hope you will share this vision and help make the Nikkei Games something our grandchildren will be able to enjoy. The basketball tournament results should be posted very soon on the Nikkei Games website at www.nikkeigames.org. A special thank you to those of you who volunteered to be a court commissioner. It is one of the most challenging jobs of the tournament and it is also one of the most important. We are always in need of strong court commissioners because of the length of the tournament. It is very clear the success of the tournament is directly related to the quality of our court commissioners. If you did not have the opportunity to be a court commissioner this year, please take advantage of the opportunity next year. This year we closed all but two divisions in July. Even though we have expanded to two days, we still turn away teams each year. So next year, please get your applications in early. The 2008 Nikkei Games basketball application should be available on our website sometime in March 2008. The tournament is expected to be even bigger and better next year! Also, please join us in thanking our Nikkei Games sponsors, coordinators and the more than 300 volunteers that worked to make this event such a great success. The only way we can keep the player fee low and have the tournament at the Pyramid is through the generous support of our sponsors. On a different note, we were made aware that the "permit required" sign was still visible when entering the parking structure and some of you or your players' parents purchased a permit or parked in Parking Lot 14 instead. Please accept our sincere apologies if you were impacted by this. It was too bad that Lot 13 was still under renovation during the Nikkei Games. We secured the parking structure to help alleviate some of the inconvenience of not have Lot 13 available. Unfortunately, we did not receive the full benefit and use of the parking structure. Thank you for your understanding. Finally, if you have any comments or suggestions on improving the Nikkei Games basketball tournament, please let us know. Your feedback is very important to making the tournament better each year. Again, thank you for your participation and support. We look forward to seeing you next year! Sincerely, Wallace Chan 2007 Nikkei Games Basketball Chairperson |