A high school in Elmvale is attempting to break a Guinness World Record for the largest game of “knockout” basketball on Thursday.
Students and staff of Elmvale District High School will attempt to break the record with the help of students from surrounding elementary schools including Birchview Dunes Elementary School, Hillsdale Elementary School, Huronia Centennial Elementary School, Minesing Central Public School and Wyevale Central Public School.
Lindsay Burke, a teacher at EDHS, and organizer of the event says the idea sprung from construction annoyances. She explained, “last spring we learned that the construction on EDHS would be starting in the fall so we knew it was going to be a long year without a gym, cafeteria and other parts of the school being torn down. I thought that our students deserved some kind of reward for all the annoyances that the construction would bring.”
The game knockout, commonly known in Canada as “bump,” is an elimination style game which pits two competitors against each other at a time to see who can score a basket first. Burke says that she always loved the game, and thought this would be a great opportunity for the students to band together to accomplish a large goal, while also having some fun.
The world record is currently held by the Dallas Mavericks from Texas, which won a game of over 701 people back in 2015. EDHS will need to beat that turnout, however, Burke is aiming for around 900 participants.
Burke says they are also using this as an opportunity to do good for the community. “Since the event is completely free for all students to attend, we felt it would be a good opportunity for kids to give something back to the community so we asked each student to bring a donation for the Elmvale Food Bank with them,” she says.
The winner of the game of knockout will be awarded eight tickets to watch the Barrie Colts from a private box, and will have their name listed on the Guinness World Records website, should the participation exceed 701 people.
Due to the construction of the school’s gym, the event will be held at the Elmvale Community Arena, on April 26 at 9 a.m.
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