The Block Island Hurricanes school teams as a whole have another layer of logistical challenges and additional hours when playing off-island, from a rocky boat, to early morning wake-up calls on a Saturday morning, to biting, below-zero wind chills, when most kids trade the day off from school for a warm morning in bed.But that is what makes them so tough, so genuine, so refreshing.This past week the boys’ high school team traveled on the 8:15 morning boat accompanied on-board by a dozen or more in-training, little tykes under the guidance of Block Island’s remarkable Recreation Director Dave Sniffen. As the little ones, boys and girls, headed to their Saturday Rec League contests in Narragansett, the high school team headed to the heart of Providence for a match-up with Barrington Christian Academy.
All of the high school kids noted they got their introduction to instructional and competitive basketball making the same early morning Rec league trek … call it disguised boot camp. The ferry just becomes a character builder in the process.
And what training it has proven to be.The high school boys, all seven who were Covid-free, scored often while clamping down on the 15-person BCA team
