Grace perfects nature

One team’s journey to the 2023 Shamrock Tournament

As hundreds of families, including mine, prepared for this year’s Shamrock Basketball Tournament, I was reminded that “the more things change, the more things stay the same.”

The expression certainly fits my experience with Catholic middle school basketball.

Founded in 1962 at St. Patrick School in Charlotte, the Shamrock Tournament is turning 60 this year. It’s been held every year since its inception except during the pandemic in 2021. This three-day showdown for seventh- and eighth-graders, boys and girls, has become a rite of passage for so many Catholic families, full of fun, friends and faith. I’m an assistant coach for the mighty Panthers, the varsity girls’ team at Our Lady of Grace in Greensboro. My daughter Mary plays shooting guard and forward on the team, so I’ve had the pleasure of watching her and her teammates grow in their skills and maturity over several years while cheering, comforting, and helping coach these girls as they arrive at this memorable moment.

I too played in the Shamrock Tournament – back in the mid-1990s. I was the center for Sacred Heart’s middle school team in Salisbury.

Shamrock at a glance

n Established: 1962 at St. Patrick School, Charlotte n Founder: Kenneth “Joe” Mosca n Host Schools: St. Patrick School (19622007), Holy Trinity Middle School (20082017), Charlotte Catholic High School (2018-present) n Biggest Tournament: 93 teams, 10 venues n 2023 Tournament: 50 teams, 6 venues n States represented in 2023: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. n More than basketball: Tournament Mass, cheerleading competition

My dad Art Reilly was the assistant coach. Sacred Heart’s teams were new then. In sixth grade, it was announced we’d be starting a basketball team for boys and a cheerleading squad for girls. “Hey, what about a girls’ team,” a few of us asked. So, with my friend Carmen’s mom as head coach and my dad as the assistant, we started one. We even had a say in choosing our mascot. Go, Dolphins! Our first games –and the Shamrock Tournament – were tough. We steadily improved though and even won a Christmas tournament one year. Though the details are fuzzy, I do remember the fellowship and fun with friends and families, especially at the Shamrock Tournament. It’s a chance to spend the night in a big city surrounded by your best friends playing the game you love. As a young teen, it was hard to imagine anything more exciting.

This year, on Feb. 17-19, approximately 50 teams from Catholic schools in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia will compete in dozens of games. For many eighth-graders, it’s the culmination of four years of playing together – a milestone as they prepare for high school, as they come of age.

Our Lady of Grace Panthers

n Coach: Dennis Finnegan (since 1996) n Assistant Coaches: David Foppe, Corbin Rusch, Annie Ferguson n Eighth-graders: Emmy, Marika, Mary, Olivia, Serena n Seventh-graders: Amaia, Audrey, Charlotte, Gracie, Rilynn n Sixth-graders: Danielle and Lilly n Parish: Our Lady of Grace, Greensboro n Pastor: Father Casey Coleman n Favorite (Team) Food: Elizabeth’s Pizza (and zeppole) on Bridford Parkway, Greensboro

Proud Of Our Panthers

Our team at Our Lady of Grace is led by an extraordinary coach, Dennis Finnegan, who has shepherded both girls’ and boys’ teams there for 27 years. Mary and her fellow eighth-graders Marika, Serena and Olivia have been playing together since fifth grade. They are joined this year by a cadre of up-and-coming players ranging from sixth to eighth grade.

As an assistant coach, it has been aweinspiring to watch them learn the game and develop their skills with each passing season.

I can still hear their squeals of delight during their first win on the Junior Varsity team and the more raucous cheers last year from the Our Lady of Grace stands when Olivia hit the winning shot in an emotional buzzer beater.

We began our current season with a Mass our entire team attended together. The faith runs deep among our volunteer coaching team of four, but it’s Assistant Coach David Foppe who takes the spiritual mantle by encouraging and leading us in prayer and connecting the lessons of the court with the Catholic faith. He also arranges for team blessings by Father Casey Coleman, our pastor, whose spiritual guidance to us as individuals and as a team is immeasurable.

Naturally, he was pleased to see us sitting together for Mass that Sunday, a big group of middle school girls and their parents and coaches celebrating the Blessed Sacrament.

What better way to start a season than with the grace received from the source and summit of our faith?

We lost our first game but came back with three wins – placing third in the Renegar Tournament in Winston-Salem –the first such achievement for an OLG team in a long time.

As the season went on, we twice saw Serena – with her perfect layups – score 21 points in a game. Marika outran just about everyone with her remarkable athleticism, scoring key baskets. Mary grew in her court awareness, making beautiful assists to her teammates, and scored 14 points on her 14th birthday weekend. She has also learned to see the bigger picture and to persevere on the court and in prayer.

Olivia made basket after basket, scoring in double figures in multiple games and reached a personal best of 18 points in one game.

Still, there were many tough losses too. Just last weekend, the girls were in tears after a difficult loss in their conference tournament. To borrow from St. Thomas Aquinas – this is where grace begins to perfect nature. When we admit our weakness and dependence on God, we are receptive to grace and are thus strengthened.

Fortunately for us, there is an abundance of grace flowing at our Greensboro parish, thanks to our patroness and the frequent availability of the sacraments. Not to mention, we still had the Shamrock Tournament ahead of us – with its Big (middle school) League competition, hotel stay and meals out as a team.

Through The Generations

God has also given us the gift of Coach Finnegan, who has coached at Our Lady of Grace since 1996 when his children Lindsay, Lauren and Michael played. This was around the same time my dad was coaching my sister and me at Sacred Heart, so when we first met, it felt as though we had lived parallel lives. We’re all Irish to boot. Fittingly, my father and Dennis met for the first time last year at the Shamrock Tournament.

Though our mascot is the panther, Coach Finnegan is a lion-hearted man – fierce, tender, loyal and wise. He has coached two Shamrock Tournament Champion teams in 2001 and 2004. Coach Finnegan says he’s been blessed to work with so many wonderful student athletes and praised them for their kindness and respect even during moments of tough criticism.

“Why I was so lucky to have this opportunity only God knows,” he says.

Indeed, there’s a certain perfection to our team that no conference record (we’re fourth) or tournament results could improve or erase.

My years in middle school basketball and playing in the Shamrock Tournament with my dad as a coach seem to transcend time as it does for Coach Finnegan and his children. Much has changed, but we still laugh and talk about those days almost 30 years ago. Mary will move on soon, too, but no matter how much our lives change, we’ll always have Jesus – and basketball.

ANNIE FERGUSON is a member of the Catholic News Herald editorial team.

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