Playing It Up Pro Style
By AMANDA RAUS
Updated 11:30 PM EDT, Fri, Mar 20, 2009
With the blow of the whistle, Norwich Free Academy faced off against Career Magnet of New Haven at the Mohegan Sun Arena. It's the first time in C.I.A.C. history both the boys and girls championships will be held at the same time at a venue set for the pros.
Our major goal was to put the tournament in an arena that was the appropriate size, an arena that the kids would remember," said Michael Savage, Executive Director of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference.
Many famous names have hit this court, so the players are following in the footsteps of Michael Jordan, Ray Allen and Diana Taurasi.
"My daughter plays on Fairfield Warde, so for her to play a whole season and then be able to play in an arena like this, she's beside herself," said Jim Schneider of Fairfield.
"To see this is great, and usually it's not the girls, it's the boys, so this is a big step up," said Natoya McCray of New Haven.
It's not just the teams that benefit from playing here, Mohegan Sun benefits, too. They get a whole new crowd of people coming to their place.
"There's a lot more to do than just gaming here. And again, to get people to see the place, if you haven't been here it's really hard to describe," said Paul Munick, Senior Vice President of Sports and Entertainment at Mohegan Sun.
About 10 thousand people are expected to attend. While Mohegan won't make any money on the actual games, there will be people visiting their restaurants, shops and casinos.
"The kids could watch the basketball games, if the parents want to go spin the wheel they can, it's exciting," said Michele Clark of New Haven.
The excitement continues Saturday, and Mohegan suggests getting to the box office early.
First Published: Mar 20, 2009 9:35 PM EDT
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