Friendships renewed at No Classic 2021

Friendships renewed at Colin No Classic 2021

The 17th Annual Colin No Classic basketball tournament—held online via Zoom on January 20—proved that Selwyn House Old Boys can sustain their high level of engagement with the school, even in COVID times.

Under current conditions, it was impossible to play any basketball, but the tournament spirit lived on in the banter and high-spirited reminiscing among the 42 Old Boys and staff who attended.

The evening was a celebration of basketball at Selwyn House, with an emphasis on the Class of ’97 and their coaches. The online program started with pre-recorded welcomes from organizers and then proceeded to a live online group chat.

Tales were told of games won and lost, of high scores and low, from triple overtimes to 100-to-0 blanks, mostly involving members of Colin No’s Class of ’97. Colin, who was an outstanding athlete at Selwyn House, died tragically in 2002 at age 22. A fund in his honour, which pays for financial assistance to qualifying students, has raised a total of $303,638 to date.

“Selwyn House was so important to Colin,” said his twin brother, Toby. “He spent the most important years of his life at Selwyn. His love for sports is what made him a leader in the Class of ’97.”

“To say that we both enjoyed our experience at Selwyn would be a gross understatement. We really established meaningful and permanent relationships while we were here. We grew up to be well-mannered young adults at Selwyn.”

Basketball Coach Marty Boyle described Colin and Toby No as “two of the best guys who ever came out of Selwyn House.” He called them the “glue guys,” who hold their teams together with their leadership. “Their teammates loved them.”

Guest of honour Joel Anthony ’99, the only Old Boy to have played in the NBA, lent the occasion a bit of B-ball cred. Joel paid tribute to his older schoolmate, Colin No, as someone

he “looked up to” in high school. This coming from a man who stands six-footnine. After Selwyn House, Joel went on to play for two universities, five NBA teams, and for Team Canada. He is now retired from the court as a consultant for the Hamilton Honey Badgers of the Canadian Elite League. In honour of Joel’s achievements, the Erene & Joel Anthony Family Bursary Fund was established in 2014 at Selwyn House School. “It’s good to see so many faces that were part of my childhood,” Joel said during the chat session. “My family and I are grateful for the existence of this event.” “Selwyn House basketball has had a huge impact on my life,” said Jon Merrit 2004. Attending Marty and Colin Boyle’s basketball camp was one of the reasons he came to Selwyn House, where he is now a basketball coach A scene from Colin No Tournament 2020 and history teacher. He paid tribute to his coaches. “They instilled in us a lot of strong values that I carry forward as a coach today. Selwyn House basketball is one big family.” “This is a great event to honour Colin’s memory,” said Ziad Kaedbey ’97, who has attended nearly all the Colin No Tournaments. “The fund in his name is also a great thing because he was such a helpful guy. So selfless. I was lucky enough to know him and to stay in touch after Selwyn.” Old Boys’ Association President Josh Wisenthal ’99 was obviously pleased with the event. “We’re really happy with the level of engagement of everybody in a virtual environment,” he said. “Notwithstanding the fact that we can’t do these things in person this year, participation has been really good.” Old Boys and staff members logged on to the Zoom tournament from far away. The long-distance award went to Lourenço Bustani ’97, who joined the get-together from his home in Brazil. Runners-up were Vidal Sadaka 2000 in Washington, DC, and Richard Martz ’97, Kevin Wang ’97 and David Smith 2012 in New York.