Could Glouberman be back?

The Steve Glouberman Annual Basketball Tournament, one of the most energetic and ruach-filled events of the Shalhevet year, is being planned for May 23-27 in Phoenix, Ariz., school officials say, though they’re not 100 percent sure it will happen.

Glouberman is traditionally held in the Shalhevet gym each November, with visiting teams staying in Shalhevet families’ homes. As many as 19 teams at a time, representing 10 schools, have competed in past years.

The fall 2020 tournament, which would have been the sixth, was never officially canceled, but rather was “postponed” because of the pandemic.

Coach Jeff Remer, Shalhevet’s Athletics Coordinator, said the reason for moving it was Covid.

“We wanted to make it more like what the NBA did in order to answer the Corona issues, which was making a bubble where you were at the same site and you were using a multi-tier gym facility,” said Coach Remer. “We would not be able to accommodate that same type of situation here in Los Angeles.”

He said that a minimum four or six teams would be needed for the tournament to happen, though officials hope for as many as 10.

“The only way that I feel it is not going to happen is if we don’t get enough participation from other schools to make it worthwhile, or if God-forbid there would be a tremendous spike in Corona that would ultimately derail the plan,” said Coach Remer.

Firehawk basketball Head Coach Ryan Coleman said the Phoenix tournament was a “work in progress” and did not share details.

He declined to say how many or which schools might attend, and said there was no deadline for them to commit.

“There is no deadline as of now,” Coach Coleman replied April 15 via email to Boiling Point questions.“We are trying to let schools work through the complications that they may be incurring.”

Asked a week later whether any progress had been made and whether he could share which teams would be attending, he replied, “It’s top secret.”

Asked whether that meant the names of the teams or whether enough teams are attending, he replied, “Yes!”

Coach Remer said he was confident one team would be YULA, though nothing had been finalized.

He also said that once the tournament begins, preventing the spread of Covid would be a focus and that while nothing has yet been finalized, it is likely that the players will be frequently tested while participating in the tournament.

 

Meanwhile, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and state Department of Public Health (CDPH) have both relaxed restrictions as Covid cases in Southern California stay low.

Beginning on April 5, Los Angeles County entered California’s “Orange” Covid tier, which allows every sport that doesn’t require high contact to resume practices and games. If the sport is close-contact, every player participating must receive a negative Covid test 24 hours before the game. Examples of high-contact sports are basketball and football.  

The Firehawks played and won their first CIF boys basketball game since the pandemic started on March 18, and since then have played three more games, winning two. The girls team has played and lost three games.

Shalhevet’s baseball and volleyball teams have also been cleared to play.  The girls volleyball team is scheduled to play the YULA Girls Panthers next Monday, April 19, and the baseball team had its first game on Monday against de Toledo, losing 10 – 1.

“It was the first game of our season, and even though we played the best team we will face, we still did a great job and we are only going to get better,” said baseball team captain Josh Harrison.

 

The first word that Glouberman might be back came from basketball Coach Coleman’s Instagram, March 2.  “We are Back,” it said. It said the games would take place in Mesquite, Nev.

Now, much more information is posted on Shalhevet Glouberman website, including plans for all teams to arrive by plane and be provided with bus transportation to and from the sports facility.

Both boys and girls teams are invited. A team deposit of $2,500 is required if both boys and girls teams are participating, or $1,500 for only one team.

Firehawk co-captain Ze’ev Remer said that he is excited to play in a competitive tournament.

“With Sarachek being canceled — and we were going into Sarachek ranked number one — we didn’t really get a chance to close out the season how we wanted to,” said Ze’ev in an interview. “So I do feel that everybody will be coming to play with more energy and more intensity, knowing that we can’t take basketball for granted.”

When the possible Glouberman return was announced, CIF had yet to announce that a season would happen, so this was the first time players got news that they would have a way of playing any basketball this year.

Sophomore varsity guard Josh Askari said that after losing at Glouberman last year, the team wants to come back stronger.

“I got the news through Instagram, and I was in the middle of Model Congress practice, and personally I lost it,” said Josh in an interview. “I was so excited the fact that we finally had a definitive plan of playing basketball this year.”

 

Head of School Rabbi David Block said that as of now there has been no final decision on live spectators or live streaming of Glouberman games at school.

“We definitely want to give our students an opportunity to join in and create that amazing Shalhevet ruach when our Firehawks are playing,” Rabbi Block wrote in an email answer to Boiling Point questions. “That doesn’t mean it will necessarily be for every game, but we’ll figure those details out.”

If there is a tournament this year, it will not host a Shabbat component, officials said. In the past, all the teams would spend Shabbat together and daven together. This year the plan is for a Sunday arrival and Thursday departure.

Rabbi Ari Segal, former head of school and current Chief Strategy Officer, said Shalhevet originally signed up with Mesquite, but was later told its venue was available only on weekends. That left Henderson, Nev., he said, and Phoenix.

“We were looking for something that was driving distance from L.A., Covid guidelines that allow for youth sports tournaments, and a robust infrastructure for AAU [youth sports] tournaments,” wrote Rabbi Segal in an email to the Boiling Point. “We looked at both and Phoenix was the clear winner.”

Rabbi Segal was in Phoenix on April 6 and 11 looking at possible facilities that could host the tournament, and is hoping for PHhacility.

“[PHhacility] might be the nicest basketball venue I have ever seen for a tournament like ours,” wrote Rabbi Segal via email.  “[It is] very likely that it will take place at PHhacility, which would be incredible.”