Bob Paranto Junior High Holiday Tournament

By Steev Riccardo

The 6th Annual Bob Paranto Junior High School Holiday Tournament took place this past week at Bartlett High School.

Thompson Middle School, Bartlett Middle School, St. Louis, and St. Joseph’s all had boys and girls entries competing in the tournament.

The crowd in attendance enjoyed the action immensely and witnessed many of the area’s future young stars in action.

The Bartlett Junior High girls squad and their coach Makara Meisler were led by point guard Katie Kobel, who is the younger sister of Bartlett High Varsity Captain Nick Kobel, in their game against Thompson Junior High School in just one of the contests.

Former 1000-point scorer and star hoopster Edward Grzembski, who graduated from Bartlett in 1987 and went on to play at Stonehill College, was also on hand, coaching the St. Louis team.

“We are trying to get the local flare happening and I think it has been pretty well responded to. Bartlett and St. Louis usually draw big crowds. The biggest thing is that we want to draw interest to our local schools and I think we have done that successfully for the last six years,” said Bartlett Varsity Basketball Coach and co-tournament director Tony Paranto.

Paranto, who is the son of Bob Paranto, and Bartlett Athletic Director and tournament co-director Rene Langevin, have both been very pleased with the success of the tournament and all that it stands for.

Bob Paranto’s Bartlett High School basketball team won the school’s only state championship in basketball, which remains one of the school’s greatest athletic achievements.

The funds raised at the tournament go to two scholarships at Bartlett, a boy’s scholarship and a girl’s scholarship. The remainder of the money raised goes to the Sports Alive program to offset any equipment and uniforms that they need to purchase.

Bryana Poulin, who is attending Southern Connecticut University, won the girl’s scholarship last year. She is currently on the varsity soccer team at the University.

Bob Paranto was one of the legends of the local sports scene and it’s great to see his name honored in such a way. Congratulations to Tony Paranto and Rene Langevin for putting on a great yearly event that benefits the kids in the community and is also fun to watch.

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