Scholarships cap off The Big Ticket 2019

For the second year in a row, The Big Ticket is giving out scholarships to some of the best players in the tournament. It may not seem like it, but the scholarships are a big draw for all the parties involved.

“We want to create a fantastic experience for the kids so they can remember it for the rest of their lives,” said tournament organizer Anthony Beyrouti about using the scholarships being given to the basketball players in The Big Ticket

Much of The Big Ticket is centred around giving back, and it began with a tradition started several years ago.

“Back in the day, Howard Kelsey and his friends put together the HSBC tournament, they had HSBC sponsor it,” explained Beyrouti. “When they shut it down, we tried to take it over from him and work with him to make it happen but it just for whatever reason it didn’t work.”

“Then last year we got it back off the ground, we decided to make something cool,” said Beyrouti about starting The Big Ticket.

In order to give back in the best way he could, Beyrouti needed some help. “I called my friends Onni development group and they decided to match us with the donation,” said Beyrouti. “They put together $20,000 dollars in scholarships and we put together $20,000 at VenueKings.com.”

All together, thanks to the Onni group and VenueKing.com, The Big Ticket will present 40 students with $1000 scholarships at the end of the tournament.

“What we want to do is give kids the opportunity to take a bit of a burden off of their university fees and just give back a little bit, and create the biggest tournament in the country,” started Beyrouti, “and that’s what we did this year – 104 teams total and a chance to create a fantastic experience for the kids so they can remember it for the rest of their lives.”

Win or lose, the experience of The Big Ticket is one that everyone will remember for a long time.

Written by: Mohak Sood