By Richard Crist, Board Chair, Muncie Sports Commission—
MUNCIE, IN— Muncie’s two high schools, Muncie Central High School and Burris Laboratory School, have teamed up to host a one-day basketball invitational tournament on Saturday, Jan. 28th at the historic Muncie Fieldhouse. The 2nd Annual City of Champions tournament, presented by Pizza King, will feature the boys basketball teams from Muncie Central, Muncie Burris, Greenfield-Central, and Indianapolis Bishop Chatard.
The tournament will kick off at 10 a.m. with a matchup between Muncie Central and Burris for the “City Championship.” Bishop Chatard and Greenfield-Central will follow, with tip-off around noon. The tournament’s consolation game will take place at 6 p.m., and the championship game will follow at approximately 8 p.m.
In between tournament sessions, the visiting teams will be provided lunch and given a tour of Ball State that includes the Ball State Sports Link studios and E-sports facilities.
At last year’s event, Ball State Sports Link led a group of students from Burris and Central to digitally produce the broadcast of the City of Champions tournament. Since then, Burris has expanded their in-house sports production program and is taking the lead on producing all four games this year. “Collaborating with Ball State Sports Link was an incredible experience for my students in the broadcasting class; it allowed me to see what my students could achieve and set high expectations,” stated Burris Student Media Coordinator, Robert Jones. “The collaboration only excited my group for this year’s event, and now they are eager for what they can do independently. The broadcasting group has been live-streaming many events here at Burris, from sporting events to music concerts. We are thrilled to be moving towards our goal of traveling to different schools and covering more in our community.”
“We are excited to facilitate an event like City of Champions that highlights Muncie’s rich athletic past, features current student-athletes, and plays host to our visitors from across the state,” stated Muncie Sports Commission, Executive Director Jon Anderson. “Partnerships like this highlight the importance of sports and its ability to impact lives and our community long after the game is over.”
Organizations partnering with the Muncie Sports Commission to make this event possible include Title Sponsor Pizza King, Crestview Golf Club, Integrity Fulfillment Services, Whitinger & Company, and Ball State University.
For more information about the City of Champions Tournament and to view the live streams, follow Muncie City of Champions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
