About 100 parents and faculty cheered on students at the Medina Community Recreation Center on Thursday afternoon in a March Madness youth basketball championship game.
ASHLEY FOX / GAZETTE Waite Elementary coach Joe Ortenzi takes a “silly selfie” with his team and Principal Cindy Grice after winning The Medina County Police Activities League’s March Madness championship game.
The tournament, sponsored by the Medina County Police Activities League, was a monthlong event that was co-ed and open to students in fifth grade at seven of the Medina’s elementary schools; Heritage, Ralph Waite, Garfield, H.G. Blake, Northrop, Ella Canavan and Sidney Fenn.
The Montville Township Police Department conceived the tournament in 2010. Chief Terry Grice, who is also the executive director of the league, said the program helps get youths involved with the department.
“The kids love it. It’s a great way to have a great relationship with elementary kids,” he said as he watched the game.
The tournament
The tournament began with fifth-grade students signing up at school, with the first 28 making the team. From there, they play each other in games within their schools, then they play other schools. There are seven schools and eight teams, allowing one school to play twice. Games lasted four quarters, and each quarter lasts for eight minutes.
Overall, the program lasted about four weeks, from February into March.
Leading up to Thursday’s event, there were two weeks of practice and one week of tournaments in the students’ home school.
Medina Probate and Juvenile Court Judge Kevin Dunn started the game, tossing up the opening tip-off.
“This is a first-step process to get kids involved, to do something, rather than have an idle time on their hands,” he said. The program is a tool used to build a rapport, with the kids realizing they can talk to and trust the police officers.
The organizers said the winter basketball tournament also gives students a chance to play sports when they might not otherwise be able to afford it. Along with Judge Dunn’s court, the activities league coordinates with police departments from Brunswick, Lodi, Medina, Montville and Wadsworth.
Thursday’s game was a rematch from 2015’s final as Ella Canavan and Waite Elementary teams reached the final, but with a new set of fifth graders. Waite Elementary defeated Ella Canavan, 48-31.
There were more than just proud parents and mentors at the game. Montville Township trustee Sally Albrecht was in the stands, cheering away.
“We are so fortunate to have staff members like Chief Grice because he does so much for the community, above and beyond his job description,” Albrecht said. As a trustee overseeing a variety of township activities, she said this program is something kids respond well to.
Police Activities League
Grice said the Police Activities League meets at each of the seven schools twice a week for an hour and a half. They do various activities, including having snacks, exercise and recreation, and going to Cleveland Cavaliers games, and taking trips to the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland.
Grice said that while it’s a positive experience for the volunteers, parents and community, it’s even greater for the kids.
“It’s not about us. It’s about the kids,” he said.
The Police Activities League, run by a board of directors, was started by the city of Medina in 2007 and taken over by Grice and his group in 2010.
Montville Officer Dave Pinkas of the works as a resource and officer in the seven schools as well as a D.A.R.E. officer, said this is a “great way for the kids to become actively engaged with officers at an early age.”
Besides basketball, everyone agreed students can get excited about projects that involve the police.
“A lot of issues coming through our courts are from kids not having positive activity,” Dunn said.
