Community Unites for the 30th Girls’ Winter Classic in Sartell [PHOTOS]

SARTELL (WJON News) -- Hundreds of kids flocked to Sartell on Saturday for an annual event. The Sartell Area Youth Basketball Association (SAYBA) held its 30th Annual Winter Classic Girls Basketball Tournament at the Sartell-St. Stephen High School and Middle School. Girls in 5th through 8th grade took part in the tourney.

How much work does it take to put the tournament together?

SAYBA Tournament Director Cory Peeters says it takes a lot to put the tourney together, and they are grateful to the teams that come back year after year:

"To have that happen takes a lot of good experiences from the refereeing to the staff at the district, and even the city staff accommodating. It just takes a whole community to be successful and get people to return."

Peeters says they couldn't put the tourney on without all their community volunteers and all the Sartell St. Stephen High School girls' basketball teams' volunteering efforts.

Volunteers are what make the Winter Classic go.

SAYBA Co-President Rebecca Pickler says their team of tremendous volunteers helps bring everything together:

"I would say today we have probably about 50 volunteers at this building (Sartell-St. Stephen High School), and that's what it really takes for admissions, concessions, score keeping. We've got the varsity high school teams out here, the girls, the boys will help us next weekend, so like Cory had mentioned, it's really a community coming together to put this on."

Pickler says the girls being able to interact with the high school players who are volunteering is an added bonus, and all participants really look up to them.

Over 40 teams from Hutchinson, Hermantown, Moorhead, Marshall, and more came to participate in the event. The Boys' Winter Classic will bring over 120 teams to Sartell on January 17th.

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