This year’s Notre Dame Bookstore Basketball Tournament, an annual marquee event on campus, concludes Saturday, April 27. For years, the tournament was the largest five-on-five basketball tournament in the world and has attracted considerable attention both on and off the Notre Dame campus since its debut in 1972 .
In April 1972, The observer first reported on the event, originally named Bookstore Hysteria Tournament. The tournament was created by Fritz Hoefer ’72 and Vince Meconi ’75 as part of Morrissey Manor’s annual An Tostal festivities. The tournament has gained traction over its years of development thanks to its resilient, rain or shine style. The creation of a women’s bracket in 1978 allowed the addition of a whole new sector of the tournament and therefore an even wider audience.
A tradition commonly associated with the bookstore basketball tournament is the choice of comical team names by those participating. In an April 1991 edition, The observer ranked the ten best bookstore basketball team names of the twentieth tournament with names like “All We Had Going For Us Was the Name and They Censored It” and “Two Rosses Don’t Make right “. For this year’s tournament, names like “The Double Dribbblers”, “Jenkins’ Retirement Party” and “Mary and the Apostles” are just a few examples of teams entered in the men’s tournament, women’s tournament and co-tournament respectively. -rec. .
Another bookstore basketball tournament tradition that has remained important over the years involves the teams’ game costumes. In April 2002, The observer reported how “Cuidado Piso Mojado”, a team formed at that year’s tournament, wore “body-sized bright yellow cardboard road signs” as costumes. Likewise, a team from this year’s tournament was seen wearing “Care Bear” themed uniforms as they took to the field. Another team was seen wearing full-body shark suits during their participation.
In the current iteration of the Bookstore Basketball Tournament, co-chairs Daniel O’Shea and Kayleigh Doyle and vice-chair Nick Parten have collaborated to maintain these beloved tournament traditions while introducing new aspects to achieve even more participation.
“This year we added a joint recreation tournament that requires men and women to play for the same team,” O’Shea said via text message.
By adding yet another medium, organizers hoped to attract even more competitors and viewers.
On Tuesday, April 2, in the first round of the tournament, Sam Thornton, a freshman, competed alongside his friends.
“Even though we lost, I played with members of three different dorms in five different academic disciplines against a group of graduate students studying something completely different,” Thornton said. “The bookstore basketball experience is a testament to the unique community here on campus. »
Despite the fact that the tournament is based on basketball and its competitive nature, the bookstore basketball tournament is also a fundraising event.
“It creates a sense of community here on campus while providing Jamaican children the chance to learn the fundamentals of the game as well as teamwork, leadership, respect and hard work,” Doyle said. “We will send a board member or commissioner from the bookstore to Kingston, Jamaica, to help us.”
Teams that have not yet been disqualified will fight to qualify for the finals matches next Saturday, April 27.
“This year, like last year, the final matches of our tournament will be broadcast via Notre Dame studios. Another new thing is that we will organize a food truck during the final to the delight of people. Finally, we hope to have some ceremonial tips from celebrities on campus for each of our finals matches,” O’Shea said.