Welcome To The Home Of The
Bishop Walsh Girls Invitational Tournament
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JOIN US MARCH 8-10 FOR THE 2012 BWGIT!
If your team is interested in being considered for this year’s tournament,
please contact Director Bob Boyle at 301-697-8071
Tournament Director's Welcome
Welcome to the 18th Annual Bishop Walsh Girls Invitational Tournament! We hope you will join us March 8-10, 2012, for a weekend of great basketball as we host seven teams from the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. areas. For 18 years, we have continued a rich tradition of combining basketball and sportsmanship with the hospitality known so well throughout the Cumberland, Maryland area.
Beginning in 1961, LaSalle High School, then later Bishop Walsh School, served as host for the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament (ACIT). This tournament provided post-season play for male athletes attending Catholic schools not eligible for the state playoff system. I was fortunate to participate first as a player then later as a coach in the ACIT, and I knew how much these opportunities meant to me personally.
When I started coaching the girls varsity basketball team at Bishop Walsh, I realized something was missing. There was no opportunity for female athletes attending Catholic schools to participate in post-season play. In 1995, my good friend and assistant coach, Denny McCormick, assisted me in organizing an event that would become the 1st Bishop Walsh Girls Invitational Tournament (BWGIT). With just six weeks to establish the first event, we chose to start with a four-team tournament. Fortunately, Elizabeth Seton High School from Bladensburg, Md., was nationally ranked that year, providing an enormous boost for our tournament. We will always be appreciative to Elizabeth Seton School, and then coach, Amy Fellows, for making our event such a success. Selecting one team from the WCAC in DC, one team from Baltimore, MD, and one team from the Philadelphia Catholic League proved to be an excellent decision on our part. When players and coaches of these teams returned home from the initial tournament, the word spread very quickly about the hospitality, great basketball, and sportsmanship they witnessed in Cumberland, Md.
Within weeks, I was flooded with requests from teams to be considered for the 1996 BWGIT. This growing interest in the tournament provided us the opportunity to increase the field to eight teams. Since then, for the next 17 years, we have hosted some of the top teams from Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. By researching this web site, you can see the caliber of teams and players that have made this tournament so highly regarded. Our tournament is well attended by major college coaches from all over the nation, and we have received many compliments from these coaches on the caliber of our tournament.
The success of the BWGIT is a tribute to the hard work of the parents and administration from Bishop Walsh, the members and officers of the Bishop Walsh Athletic Association, the support from the City of Cumberland and all the area businesses that have sponsored us over the years. Most of all, without the help and support of Denny McCormick and Troy Thomas, my co-chairmen who both volunteer endless hours each year, it would be impossible to host this great event.
In closing, I would like to invite all of you to witness for yourselves, Girl’s Basketball at it’s finest! Please join us on March 8th, 9th, and 10th for the 18th Annual BWGIT.
Thank You,
Robert “Bob” Boyle
Tournament Director
NOTE: We are always looking for teams interested in our event, but, unfortunately, many schools participate in a state play-off system that prohibits additional post-season tournaments. Any teams that are eligible to participate in the BWGIT are asked to e-mail the tournament director at bobboyle66@gmail.com
** Congratulations to the 2011 BWGIT Champion - St. John's College High School! **
Congratulations to Amber Singletary from Seton Keough who scored her 1000th point March 12, 2011, at the BWGIT in a game against Georgetown Visitation!
2011 BWGIT SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday March 10th
3:15pm Game 1 - Holy Cross 80 vs *Bishop Walsh 9
4:45pm Game 2 - Seton Keough 51 vs *St. John's College HS 75
6:15pm Game 3 - Archbishop Spalding 47 vs *Elizabeth Seton 40
7:45pm 15 minute youth game or fan participation contest
8:00pm Game 4 - Georgetown Visitation 50 vs *Good Counsel 60
*home teams
5pm until 9:30: Pasta Dinner at Bishop Walsh School - Open to the Public $7.00
Friday March 11th
2:45pm Game 5: Bishop Walsh 19 vs Seton Keough 68
4:15pm Game 6: Elizabeth Seton 53 vs Georgetown Visitation 59
5:45pm Game 7: St. John's College 54 HS vs Holy Cross 53
7:15pm 15 minute youth game or fan participation contest
7:30pm Game 8: Good Counsel 72 vs Archbishop Spalding 69
9:30pm: Teen dance (Holiday Inn Ballroom)
Saturday March 12th
9:30am Coaches Brunch (Holiday Inn Ballroom)
1:00pm Game 9: Bishop Walsh 21 vs Elizabeth Seton 73
2:30pm Game 10: Seton Keough 69 vs Georgetown Visitation 50
4:00pm Game 11: Holy Cross 56 vs Archbishop Spalding 55
5:30pm 15 minute youth game or fan participation contest
5:45pm Foul Shooting Contest Winner
6:15pm Championship Game: St. John's 62 vs Good Counsel 50
7:30pm 3-Point Shooting Contest Winner
7:45pm Trophy Presentation
2010 TROPHY WINNERS ARE LISTED IN THE "TOURNAMENTS" SECTION OF THE WEBSITE
PHOTOS OF 2010 TROPHY WINNERS CAN BE FOUND IN THE "PHOTO ALBUM" SECTION OF THE WEBSITE
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