The ThunderBlogs

The community’s entire arsenal of megaphones could not get the boys off the basketball courts. They jumped, dribbled, ducked and swivelled to get to the hoops. The girls stood on the bleachers, watched the players and chewed pink cotton candy.

In the background, adults huddled together to revise their event strategy. Whenever they managed to escort the teens to the sidelines, preschoolers rushed up to play another game.

The kids and their families converged on the South Arm Community Centre on Friday to celebrate the official opening of the first rubber courts in the Lower Mainland. The smell of fresh rubber and popcorn permeated the night air.

The boys were decked out in spandex shorts and their sport heros’ jerseys. Most of their runners were worn down and had chewed up shoelaces. A select few modelled runners with bold red colours and futuristic adhesives.

The boys brushed past the girls on their way to the courts and carefully avoided any mothers that were watching the games from the bleachers.

“It’s pretty male dominated,” laughed Amy Xu, a Grade 12 student. Xu was at South Arm as part of her mission to obtain 100 community service hours she needed for graduation.

Only the lure of free hot dogs was strong enough to pluck the boys from the basketball courts. Beside the food tents, high school student Vanessa Hui savoured her latest hot dog.

“It’s my seventh one,” Hui explained to her mother and eight-year-old sister when they approached. “And I don’t even like hot dogs.”

Her earlier conquests included five cotton candy swabs and a bag of popcorn.

At the next tent, Avneet Hayer collected donations for Hoops4Hope, an organization that delivers used basketball equipment to children in Africa. Michael Hilario, a student volunteer, helped her pack the boxes.

“We’ve only just met today, but we’re best friends now,” Hayer joked as she hugged her assistant.

Scott Schroeder, a burly Community Centre coordinator, blazed past them with a folded tent on his shoulder. Lights flicked on above the courts and a couple of volunteers stealthily whisked away the cotton candy machine.

The remaining volunteers faced an onslaught of boys who had waited in line for the candy, but succeeded in bribing them with a packaged snack mix.

The boys rushed back to the courts as soon as they seized the last of the food. There were no more megaphones to interrupt their games.