About twelve years ago at Vancouver’s Kits Beach courts, I had the opportunity to meet an energetic, tempo pushing point guard named Joey “King Handles” Haywood. Although younger and smaller than anyone on the court, King Handles had a blend of confidence and arrogance that would serve him well throughout his future. Inspired by his older brother Gary and a ball handling wizard from volume 1 of the AND1 mixtape series by the name of Skip To My Lou, Haywood learned to play the game with a passion and flare. After trailblazing through the US and …

THE 5TH ANNUAL HOOPFEST TOURNAMENT
On August 22-23, the 5th ANNUAL HOOPFEST TOURNAMENT crowned a new champion after four years of tournament dominance by “The School”.  Led by the trio of Alex Steele (MVP), Neb Aleksic (All-Star) and James Kenyon, the “Runnin’ Rebels” claimed their first title after two previous attempts, with a 93-85 victory over “Athelite”.
With two new teams gracing the tournament field, the HOOPFEST Tournament welcomed a number of new faces that provided countless highlights throughout the tournament including Kyle Grewal (Herbalex), Tristan Smith (Herbalex), Gurj Jhaj (RR), Jag Aujla (Assault), Junior Lennon (Ravens) to join returning stars, …