Thursday marked the first day of the 1st Annual Jamie Shaw Memorial Tournament. The tournament is being held to honour the late Jamie Shaw and his passion for the game of basketball.

Outside the gym stood a memorial to Shaw, complete with a picture, a biography, and a signed basketball. A short piece of his biography reads:

“Coaching basketball with Team Alberta greatly benefitted basketball in the Yukon. Jamie worked tirelessly to acquire knowledge, as he knew it would benefit his athletes and coaches around him. He obtained countless coaching certifications related to basketball, athletics, hockey and strength and conditioning. This was a testament to his dedication as a coach and lifelong learner.”

Today, there was a pancake breakfast with all profits going towards the Jamie Shaw Memorial Fund; as well people can donate to the fund.

Alain Desrochers is just one of the many people involved who made the tournament possible. He says the fund is to benefit all athletics in the Yukon.

“It’s providing access and development and money for all the athletes and coaches to strive to in their sports,” said Desrochers. “It’s to provide the opportunity to everybody to get the development, to get them where they need to be.”

In the biography outside the gym it said, Jamie coached many Team Yukon men and women at the Canada Games, Western Canada Games and Arctic Winter Games in both basketball and athletics. Shaw coached the 2008 men’s Arctic Winter Games team that won gold.

Shaw was the athletic director at F.H. Collins before being named vice-principal. Desrochers, who had worked with Shaw for three years, said basketball was one of his biggest passions.

“Basketball was his passion, he lived for it,” said Desrochers. “It was basketball, basketball, basketball. He was a great motivator; he had a good feel for it, everybody bought into his concept. He was calm, and when games were intense he would level up a little bit.”

Jeremy McCulloch was Shaw’s assistant coach at F.H. Collins for two seasons. He is now the head coach of the boys’ basketball team and says the lessons taught by Shaw still resonate with the guys on the team.

“He was an incredible coach really, he was one of those guys that uplifted all of the players,” said McCulloch. “He did it in a way that was different than a lot of people. You wouldn’t just call him a motivator, but he challenged his players, he set them goals he knew they could achieve and kept them accountable, for being better people, better athletes, and better students.

“It’s pretty cool because he has had such an impact on these kids. You don’t even have to talk to many specifics about things he believed and what he taught every day. You can just tell the guys ‘hey man you know how Shaw would talk in this, you know what Shaw would do in this situation.’ The guys know immediately to treat it with respect and to do things the right way and do it with effort. It’s cool to see those principles instilled in these guys still.”

Ralph Hermosa, was coached by Shaw in Grade 8 and again in Grade 10.

“He was a really fair coach, everybody was going to get playing time no matter what,” said Hermosa. “He was just, really good with people and fun… I don’t know, he is just indescribable sometimes.”

Hermosa still keeps his favourite message from Shaw in his phone, the message that resonates with him most as a player.

“He used to say when he corrects you, ‘correction doesn’t mean rejection’”, said Hermosa. “Whatever he told you he just wanted to help you out, help you get better.”

Hermosa and the rest of the F.H. Collins Warriors took to the court in the second game of the tournament. Hermosa said the team was just going to give it their best effort and play for each other.

The girls’ teams from F.H Collins and Porter Creek Rams tipped off the tournament, in front of a packed gym.

From the opening tip, the Warriors played suffocating defence and were able to get easy buckets in transition. They sustained the defensive intensity throughout the first half, pressuring the Rams’ ball handlers the full length of the gym.

The Warriors took a 27-4 lead into halftime.

The second half was much the same as the first. The Warriors forced turnovers, which led to fast-break points. When they ran their offence in the half court sets, they got after the offensive rebounds for easy put-backs. The Warriors won the first game in the inaugural Jamie Shaw Memorial Tournament, in front of their home crowd 56-12.

Warriors head coach Claire Abbott, said the team was fired up before taking to the court.

“It was a really emotional game for them, they were definitely fired up and a little bit nervous but that is understandable,” said Abbott. “They came out ready to play. I think it fuelled the way they played today and I think this set a really good tone for the rest of the weekend.”

After the girls game, the boys took the court. The Warriors and Rams both started off the game slowly, unable to get into their offensive rhythm. Both teams were picking up the ball handlers mid court; this caused a lot of turnovers, as sloppy passes were thrown to get out of the defensive traps.

The first half was low scoring, but that is not to say they didn’t get their opportunities, both teams had the ball roll around the rim and pop out. The Warriors were more aggressive in getting into their offensive system, and they took a 12-10 lead into halftime.

In the second half the Rams got some quick buckets to pull ahead 22-17, a lead they would not relinquish. The shots that were not falling in the first half began to drop as they continued to build their advantage. The Rams defensive intensity also picked up and the Warriors had to fight for every basket that they got.

The intensity of the game could be felt from the sidelines, as shouts of “Let’s Go!” rang throughout the gym after every play.

The Warriors made a late push and got the game within four with only a few minutes remaining, but the Rams got timely baskets and clamped down on defence, and made their foul shots at the end of the game to get the win 41-29.

If you are a basketball fan F.H. Collins is the place to be today and Saturday, as there is a full schedule of games. The three Whitehorse high schools as well Skagway and Haines have boys and girls teams participating. All the games Haines play are exhibition games.

There is a skills competition planned for today. The finals will happen on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.