Lions Swim Team 3 0n 3 a Huge Success

The Chinook Lions Swim team was finally able to get back in the gym and hold their primary fundraiser after a two year hiatus do to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Their Spring Into Basketball made a remarkable return to the Floyd Bowen Gymnasium at Chinook High School with a sold out field of 42 teams.

The Spring into Basketball Three on Three Tournament has been the Primary fundraiser for the Chinook Lions Swim Team for many years. Not being able to hold the event the past two years certainly made funding difficult.

The return of the event couldn't have went better, "It was a fun day and great to once again host this tournament after taking two tournaments off due to COVID-19 and lack of gym access," said event organizer Celeste Elliot.

The stands were full for the most part and every court was occupied, "We scheduled 42 teams, my limit for reasons of sanity," added Elliot. There were ten teams from Chinook and the tournament included teams from as far away as Shelby to the west and Colstrip to the east.

The tournament has been held with a variety of formats regarding age and grades. This years tournament featured girls and boys teams in grades three through six. Each team was guaranteed three games and all players received a T-Shirt.

There is a lot of work that goes into putting on the event and Elliot can't be grateful enough for all the volunteer help, "We rely on a lot of volunteers to put it on and really appreciate their willingness to give so much of their time from refereeing, keeping score, and working concessions. Most of them are in high school, and many aren't associated with swim team."

In addition to the extensive help from the high school student body, several parents and adults just looking to provide a helping hand were in attendance doing whatever was asked of them.

Games run continuously on four courts set up in the gym with a break after the pool play portion to hold a Free Throw Contest. This years event ran seamlessly and the Swim Team was thrilled with such a great turnout.

There is a tremendous amount of money required for the swim team to be able to offer a fun and rewarding experience for local swimmers and all the money generated goes directly to meeting those needs, 'We use the money to pay for swim team costs including event fees for swimmers, wages for coaches, and awards, trophies and ribbons, to be given out at our meet that we host each year, concluded Elliot.

Many of the ten volunteer referee's were former swimmers for the Chinook Lions swim team and all are either current Sugarbeeter Basketball players or Alumni. Lions swim team members are asked to help out with the booth at the Blaine County Fair each year as well.