GREENSBORO SPORTS COUNCIL ANNOUNCES HAECOISHIRING.COM INVITATIONAL CHANGES, DISTRIBUTES $86,000 TO 2021 SCHOOLS
For immediate release. March 28, 2022
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The HAECOisHiring.com Invitational is moving to pre-Christmas dates and welcoming a new team to the tournament in 2022, and the Greensboro Sports Council donated $86,000 to the eight schools that participated in the 2021 tournament last December, the Council announced today. In addition, the Sports Council donated $10,500 in scholarships and charitable contributions from tournament proceeds.
While this holiday high school tournament has always been played immediately after Christmas, the tournament will move to the week before Christmas this December and be played Dec. 20-22, 2022 in the Greensboro Coliseum Special Event Center. When the tournament tips just before Christmas, Kernersville’s Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School, which competes in the northwest conference of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, will participate for the first time replacing Northwest Guilford High School; the Vikings asked not to be considered for an invitation to this year’s tournament.
The $86,000 donation total averages $10,750 for each of the eight participating schools. In addition to the school contributions, the Council awarded four $2,000 Bill Lee Scholarships, made a $1,500 donation to the Out of the Garden Project, in honor of tournament chairs Tyler Key and Charlie Hall, and made a $1,000 donation to the Corrigan Faircloth Chapter of the National Football Foundation to sponsor a scholarship.
While the charitable component was added in recent years, the HAECOisHiring.com Invitational mission remains raising money for its participating schools as it has been since the tournament was founded as the Little 4 Invitational in 1976. Since 2008, the HAECOisHiring.com Invitational has contributed $1,272,000 to its participating schools including this year’s $86,000 in contributions.
“We were ecstatic to return to some sense of normalcy in hosting the HAECOisHiring.com Invitational last December – it was great to get back to doing what we do to raise funds for our participating schools,” Greensboro Sports Council president Brett Weathersbee said. “Due to the lasting impacts of the pandemic, our numbers were down in both fundraising and ticket sales, but as time passes and things continue to improve, our fundraising and ticket sales should do the same.
“Our new earlier dates allow us to play the HAECOisHiring.com Invitational right after winter break begins so families can travel for the holidays without having to come home on Christmas Day for the tournament. The addition of Bishop McGuinness High School opens the tournament to an energetic fan base that hasn’t experienced the HAECOisHiring.com Invitational so we’re looking forward to a fantastic tournament in December.”
In last year’s HAECOisHiring.com Invitational, Southeast Guilford High School defeated Page High School in the women’s championship game while Greensboro Day School defeated Grimsley High School in the men’s championship matchup. These four schools, along with Bishop McGuinness, Dudley High School, Ragsdale High School and Smith High School are this year’s participating teams.
The HAECOisHiring.com Invitational is an annual high school basketball tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Founded in 1976 as the Little 4 Invitational, the tournament features men’s and women’s teams representing eight Guilford County high schools playing at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. Tournament proceeds are donated to local charities and the participating schools; the HAECOisHiring.com Invitational is planned and implemented by the Greensboro Sports Council. For more information, please visit www.HAECOInvitational.com and follow the event on Twitter and Instagram: @HAECOinvit and www.facebook.com/HAECOInvitational.