The Black Invitational Basketball Tournament was a gift Bryan Darrell left to the black communities of Nova Scotia. Bryan took some time to tell me about the first year “Tournament” was held and the reason he started it.
I had the chance to sit down and talk with Carl Gannon. He was involved with the Black Invitational Basketball Tournament from the very beginning to the very end. He’s played in, sat on the Board of Directors and was a huge part of the yearly organization of the tournament for over fourty years. Here’s a small snippet of his thoughts on how the tournament grew and benefitted the community.
We are under way. Research of the fourty plus year history of the Black Invitational Basketball Tournament in Nova Scotia has begun. I’ll be posting regularly with quotes from interviews, found footage and updates about the project “TOURNAMENT”. Here is a quick clip from tournament veteran Jaysen Bundy from my talk with him the other day. Thanks to everyone who has responded to me so far.
If you were involved in, went to cheer someone on, refereed in, volunteered at, DJ’ed, BBQ’ed, witnessed your best friend get dunked on or have some great pics or video get back at me.
There are some stories that I think should be told and some histories that should be recorded and archived. That is what led me to begin “Breaking Ice”, The Birth of a Canadian Surf Culture. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to dig into a project like that. Freelancing, teaching, and raising a young family takes up an incredible amount of time. Anyone who has ever made a documentary knows the work and care that needs to go into the process to make something that does your subject justice.
Well, here I go again. I’ve started the process of researching the over 40 year history of the Black Invitational Basketball Tournament in Halifax. This is a daunting task but I believe that this story should be told. I’m asking anyone out there that has information, contacts, or has played, coached, organized, refereed, volunteered and even spectators to let me know if you are interested in talking with me over a coffee.
I’d like to build a series of video short stories as teasers in hopes to eventually find funding to help this project come to life. I look forward to hearing from all of you.
