In the early part of 1984 a meeting of high school basketball coaches took place in a classroom at Toms River High School North. The topic of conversation that evening was the Southern Regional Roundball Festival, a holiday tournament that the coaches and schools had participated in a couple of months earlier. Southern was willing to give up running the tournament if someone else could pick up the ball and possibly relocate it to a more central location in Ocean County. Enter yours truly.
I was invited to attend the meeting and after listening to the conversation I spoke about the possibility of WOBM hosting a holiday tournament and doing so at Ocean County College. If I remember correctly everyone was pretty much in agreement that OCC would be an ideal location but doubted the college would get involved.
I was invited to attend the meeting and after listening to the conversation I spoke about the possibility of WOBM hosting a holiday tournament and doing so at Ocean County College. If I remember correctly everyone was pretty much in agreement that OCC would be an ideal location but doubted the college would get involved.
The following day I typed up (on my manual typewriter) a memo to my General Manager as to my suggestion and that December the WOBM Christmas Classic was born. Brick, Central, Manchester, Monsignor Donovan, Point Boro, Southern, Toms River North and Toms River South made up the original field and the tournament was an immediate success. We established a scholarship which would be awarded to the top scholar who played in the tournament and the first recipient was John Klimkiewicz of Southern Regional High School, who is now a highly acclaimed Orthopedic Surgeon and Associate Professor at Georgetown University Hospital.
59 other former student-athletes have received scholarships from the WOBM Christmas Classic and this year another six will be added to that list. In addition we have used proceeds to donate thousands of dollars to organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ocean County and others.
That original eight-team tournament continued to expand to 10, 12 and eventually 16 teams. We added a Girls Division in 1994 and now have a total of 32 teams playing 54 games over seven days. The expansion forced us to leave OCC after 19 wonderful years for the Ritacco Center where we use both the Poland Spring Arena and Toms River North gym. This morning one of the highlights surrounding the Classic will take place when we host over 200 players, coaches and officials for a “Tipoff Brunch” at the Quality Inn of Toms River. The kids will be well-fed and then we will announce the pairings for the 25th annual tournament which opens on the weekend of December 20th and 21st. You will be able to view them later today on the Shore Sports Network website…shoresportsnetwork.com.
That original eight-team tournament continued to expand to 10, 12 and eventually 16 teams. We added a Girls Division in 1994 and now have a total of 32 teams playing 54 games over seven days. The expansion forced us to leave OCC after 19 wonderful years for the Ritacco Center where we use both the Poland Spring Arena and Toms River North gym. This morning one of the highlights surrounding the Classic will take place when we host over 200 players, coaches and officials for a “Tipoff Brunch” at the Quality Inn of Toms River. The kids will be well-fed and then we will announce the pairings for the 25th annual tournament which opens on the weekend of December 20th and 21st. You will be able to view them later today on the Shore Sports Network website…shoresportsnetwork.com.
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