DOLPHIN DAYS

Enthusiasm for annual 4-on-4 hoops classic remains high

It's a simple patch of blacktop on the edge of a small Richmond playground, but to the many hoopsters who play there Dolphin Park is a shrine.

In a community that clearly has an immense affinity with the roundball game, Dolphin Park is legendary. Many of today's high school stars in Richmond got their starts there, while former greats return each year hoping to recapture the glory.

For 13 years now, the annual Dolphin Park 4-on-4 classic has brought together the best local players for a weekend of competition and fun. And every year the level of interest rises.

"Every year it's a success," says organizer Bira Bindra, who together with a few of his former Steveston Packers teammates began the tournament.

"The interest depends on the players, they make it happen. As long as they keep committing to the tournament and we have the excellent volunteers and so much support we'll continue to have it."

Being an outdoor tournament, weather plays an obvious factor in the success of the tournament, Bindra says.

This is a small surface ideal for 4-on-4 and if we have to go inside it's not the same game, he says. Playing 4-on-4, the teams are without one less role player so it becomes pretty much man-on-man.

But the fan appeal is just as great as the regular game, he says.

"They can relate because they know most of the players and some come out because they also want to see how young players like Pasha (Bains) do against the older stars like the Brian Taits."

Another reason the tournament has retained a high degree of interest, Bindra suggests, is that there are few blowouts.

"We've tried hard to ensure there is parity among the teams and that's one thing we'll try to keep. I don't want to see it turn into a tournament where everybody wants to play for the winning team."

While they saw their tournaments hopes dashed in overtime (the first team to seven points was declared the winner) the semifinals by eventual-champion Meralomas, Dock Marlin's exemplified the spirit of the tournament, Bindra says.

"They're a prime example of why you don't have to stack your team. They kept the same group together and won the last two years in a row, and they probably have the best team work of any squad at the tournament."

The level of play at Dolphin Park has steadily increased since the first years of the classic, but that's only helped to boost interest, Bindra says.

"We have excellent coaching staffs in Richmond and they're turning out great ball players."