Skyline College summer basketball tournament will have to wait until 2022 to turn 40

“We were informed by the college … around July 1,” Piergrossi said, who has produced the tournament since taking over the Trojans program prior to the 2004-05 season.

“We were in some initial planning (stages) on how we were going to be able to run it safely and effectively. At that point, we were still waiting for official approval,” Piergrossi continued. “[The administration] came back saying they were uncomfortable running it.”

Piergrossi said there have been no events on campus, other than baseball, since the school closed in March 2020 because of the pandemic. He said the school administration did not want the first event to be dozens of high school players, coaches and fans from around the Bay Area descending on the campus.

“They just weren’t ready for that large (of a production) for a first event back,” Piergrossi said.

He says he plans on getting the tournament up and running for next summer and while the club, travel and AAU circuit have mostly replaced high school teams in the summer, there is still a need and desire for local coaches to participate in a local tournament.

“[The Skyline tournament] was always our highlight of the summer,” said Kenny Milch, who recently retired from coaching after 11 years at Terra Nova and eight years at Half Moon Bay and who had coached in every Skyline tournament since 1998.

“The feeling I got from everyone was how much they loved it and the way [Piergrossi] put the tournament on.”

Milch doesn’t look at the Skyline tournament as a relic of a bygone era. He thinks kids are still interested in playing, but have just so many other things going on during the summer. It’s not unusual to see a player leave a summer basketball game early for a summer baseball game, or to see a team’s most important players playing in a showcase tournament with their club team in Las Vegas or some other tournament across the country.

“There are tournaments all over the place. …The temptation for the young athletes to get recognized is out there. … For elite athletes, it is reality. They do get seen,” Milch said. “It’s an availability thing. That may be the primary issue. … These multi-sport athletes who are being pulled in many different directions, not only by high school teams, but club teams.

“There is just not enough time in that two-month summer to get everything in.”

Both Piergrossi and Milch, however, believe there is still a benefit to staying involved with the school team.

“I know it’s challenging for the high school coaches during the offseason,” Piergrossi said. “But I do know whoever is representing the program, whoever is showing up (to play for their school team) is getting experience from it.

“Coach up whoever shows up.”

Added Milch: “We always looked at it as a way to become acquainted in preparation for the upcoming high school season. Personally, I loved high school summer basketball and thought it was a great developmental time individually and as a unit.”

Piergrossi said there has always been enough interest to put on the summer showcase and he anticipates things returning to normal for the upcoming school year.

“We’re planning for a normal season, normal offseason, normal summer going forward,” Piergrossi said. “We always generate enough interest to run a tournament. … Everyone was hoping we were going to have it (this year).”