Kate Conlon Christmas Basketball Tourney this weekend

St. Raymond School, Mount Prospect, will partner with St. Viator High School, Arlington Heights, to host of one of the largest and most successful eighth-grade basketball tournaments in the area. More than 300 eighth-grade girls from 24 schools will compete in the four-day tournament. Games will be at both schools with the championship game taking place at St. Raymond on Sunday, Dec. 5.

Go to the St. Raymond Athletic Association website, st-raymond.org/dayschool_athletics.asp, under “Kate Conlon Tournament News” for information and schedules.

In addition to exciting basketball, Sky Guy from the WNBA will pay a visit and there will be raffle prizes including a Weber Genesis EP-310 grill, an iPod, an overnight hotel stay and many more wonderful prizes. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase at the tournament. For questions, contact Tom Doherty, tournament director, at (847) 734-9395, or via e-mail at tom.doherty@comcast.net.

In 1991, the Mount Prospect community suffered the tragic loss of three young lives. One of the youngsters, Kate Conlon, was a graduate of St. Raymond School. She and her family were longtime parishioners of St. Raymond Church. Kate was a talented athlete, who enjoyed participating in basketball, volleyball, cheerleading and intramural sports. A group of Kate's friends and neighbors wanted to do something to remember her love of athletics, and thus the tournament was created.

As each year passes, this tournament continues to grow in size and notoriety. Participating coaches from past tournaments continually comment that this is “one of the best girls' basketball tournaments in the area, especially due to its energetic spirit and warm hospitality.”