PAL Tournament is fun for all

In the Police Athletic League (PAL) Edward Byrne Center gymnasium last Wednesday, February 21, about 500 6- to 18-year-old students from throughout the five boroughs stood, sat and lounged about in the happy bedlam that only kids with a day off from school and nothing to do but play games can create.
The sound of chattering, squealing children, some nervous, some sure and all excited, amplified to a semi-deafening roar as it bounced off the walls before wafting up to meet the zeroed-out scoreboard standing guard over the scene.
It was the annual PAL Game Day Tournament of Champions, this year hosted for the second time by the South Jamaica center, according to its acting director and program coordinator, Durron Newman, and the games were about to begin.
Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders competitions lured the tiniest sweethearts in groups of four to contemplate the brightly colored board games before them with a seriousness hardly imaginable of first-graders.
The Hot Shot basketball free throw, described by PAL special projects director Fran Gilstein who coordinated the event as the biggest excitement generator of the day, drew students of all ages, even the cool-acting teenagers.
In between, language, math and trivia games held the promises of bronze, silver and gold medals for the most skilled—or luckiest—of them all.
Eight activities, each chosen for its ability to build cognitive, affective (emotional development and the ability to interact) or sensory motor skills, comprised the tournament, according to Todd Seward, director of citywide center operations for PAL.
“So many of our children today are so involved with activities that don’t necessitate personal interaction,” said Seward, citing the television, video games and Internet surfing that occupies the time of so many.
But not these children. All were PAL after-school program participants and each child there had earned his or her way by surviving the preliminary rounds of each activity to become their home center champions.
Although each would receive a T-shirt commemorating the day, most would return home without medals. But winning a prize was a secondary goal to growing from the experience and learning life’s lessons in a nurturing place, said Seward.
“We don’t always reach our goal,” explained Seward. But there, children could experience both happiness and disappointment in a positive environment, he said, and have experiences they might not otherwise.
Fortunately for 8-year-old Daniel Delsol from P.S. 270 in Rosedale, satisfaction came readily as he took first place in his Math Challenge age group.
“I thought I would win,” he said. “My parents were teaching me math for a long time.”