Kinston/Lenoir County Sports Alumni Weekend was an Major Success
Written by: Jayden Willis
Pictures by: William Hardy
This past weekend SJG Greater Sports hosted the Kinston/Lenoir County Alumni Weekend. The weekend was filled with fun events, sports, and an overall sense of community throughout. The host of the event, SJG Greater Sports is a group of former Kinston basketball stars that include Former NBA player and now the men’s head basketball coach at Vanderbilt Jerry Stackhouse, President of SJG sports Donyell Bryant, and Chuck Jones.
“It’s always great to come back and help, this is where I grew up and met great mentors that helped me,” Stackhouse said about the event.
The first day of the event was split into two events, the first event being the Fishers of Kids Anglers Academy and the Cutter Creek Golf Club Tournament hosted by Jerry Stackhouse. The event took place in Snow Hill, NC, and let kids learn from the Fishers of Kids Anglers Academy about fishing while getting to meet local hero Jerry Stackhouse.
The second event on Friday was the Family and Friends Adult Game Nite Scholarship Sneaker Ball and Community Service Excellence awards. This event was held at the Kinston Community Center formerly known as the Wooden, and it was the perfect place for the event with awards being given out to local mentors for their service done for the community. One honoree was none other than Nicholas and Eleanor Harvey who were recognized for their philanthropy throughout the Kinston community.
“I am filled with humility, as so many people in Kinston have done more for me than I have for the community in Kinston,” Nicholas Harvey said about being honored on this special night for the community.
The night was also filled with fun activities that included pool tables, air hockey, cornhole, and ping pong for the community to interact and have fun with each other. On Saturday, the Alumni basketball tournament would take place which was also hosted by the SJG along with the Kinston Ques. There were four teams from the surrounding counties that competed in the tournament on Saturday. These teams were J.H. Rose, Kinston High Greene Central, and Ayden Grifton High School.
I expected to watch an evening of completive and great basketball as the alumni from these schools all grew up playing each other and forming rivalries among the schools. While this was provided during the tournament which Greene Central ended up winning in a close and familiar match-up between Kinston High. What I felt, even more, was this feeling of unity among the community throughout the day. Whether it was people from all the counties involved showing up to the event to provide support towards a great event, alumni catching up and seeing how everyone is doing, or kids enjoying the competitive games being put on while competing themselves for prizes during halftimes.
You could feel the strong bonds that had been built among the community throughout the entire day. SJG Greater Sports put on a fantastic event that was exciting from beginning to end and showcased what the Kinston/Lenoir community has to offer.
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