It was in 1992 when eight senior boys high school basketball teams from Surrey tipped off in the first-ever Surrey RCMP Classic played over three days at Queen Elizabeth Secondary.
The unofficial city championship tournament has grown immensely since then, and last year featured 24 senior teams and 19 junior teams. Games were played over seven consecutive days at nine Surrey high schools.
The 2016 tournament in mid-January will be the 25th annual event, and to celebrate the quarter-century milestone, this year’s RCMP Classic Jan. 10-16 will feature a 16-team alumni tournament to be played at the Langley Events Centre (LEC).
“We’re doing it for the 25th year only, it’s a one-off deal,” said Rick Inrig of the organizing committee. “But some teams are already practicing.”
The 16 teams will be grouped into four pools of four teams, each team playing once against each of the other three teams in their group on Friday (Jan. 15). The top two in each pool advance to play in a playoff round Saturday (Jan. 16), which will be followed by a banquet, also at the LEC.
Former players interested in participating in this year’s Alumni Tournament can contact Kevin de Boice by email at deboice_k@surreyschools.ca
The RCMP Classic has also confirmed all three games on the final day of play, which includes the fourth- and third-place games as well as the tournament final, will be played at the LEC.