NEOSHO, Mo. — In a normal year, the Neosho Holiday Classic is one of the biggest winter basketball tournaments in Southwest Missouri and the four-state area. Local, regional and even teams from the farthest stretches of the country have traveled to Neosho to take part in the long history of the Holiday Classic.
Unfortunately, 2020 has been anything but normal, and like so many other events, the Neosho Holiday Classic had to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local construction company Branco Enterprises has sponsored the Neosho Holiday Classic since 1998, and company president Justin Branham admitted this year was a weird challenge.
“It was a lot easier,” Branham said jokingly. “Almost everything was out of our control. We had almost a full field for both boys and girls, and then the pandemic hit. At that point, all of our decisions were going to be made by other people—states, athletic associations, individual school districts. The overall effort that we had to put in wasn’t as much, but I hate to say it was easier because it was disappointing.
“The biggest thing, like everything in the pandemic, was the unknowns. Everybody was trying to make the right decisions, but they weren’t making decisions quickly. There was no consistency in the decisions. Arkansas was handling it one way and Missouri was handling it another way. States and cities were doing one thing, school districts and athletic associations like MSHSAA and stuff were doing things a different way. It was just the unknowns and trying to balance all of the different approaches and figuring out where the middle ground was.”
Despite the pandemic hindering the tournament’s full potential, Branham was quick to point out that at the end of the day, everyone involved was just happy to put on the 66th rendition of the Neosho Holiday Classic in order to provide the local community with some familiar entertainment while keeping the tradition alive.
“The goal for everyone is to get back to some sort of normal,” Branham said. “This is normal for us around Christmas time. We were always proponents of making sure we could have the tournament, but it was more about the reality of whether the environment and the authorities who control these types of things would allow us to. Fortunately, we were able to have it in this capacity at least.
“I think this (tournament) is important to the community, and I think the crowds that we have seen come through the doors over the last several days validate that. Everybody is looking for something, looking for the ability to get out and attend these types of events. I think, from a personal standpoint, seeing the attendance being a little higher, seeing that everyone has been respectful and not having any issues with the political division that comes with the pandemic, it was very refreshing. There are 66 years of history with this tournament, and this year will just go down as another chapter.”
Usually, the Neosho Holiday Classic would feature a boys tournament consisting of 16 teams from different parts of the country as well as a girls tournament with eight teams to be played in a week’s time after the Christmas holiday. In 2020, the NHC had to drop the girls tournament altogether while the boys tournament was whittled down to six local teams played over a period of three days.
“We have always tried to make sure that we have a competitive side to the girls’ tournament,” Branham said about being forced to cancel the girls tournament. “I think maybe a month ago we were still planning to have it. It was going to be just a small round-robin tournament based on the teams that could attend. At the last minute, we had a team drop out because they were not able to play. So, at that point, it just didn’t make sense to have it. It was disappointing, but we are still committed to having that girls tournament and, hopefully, it will be even bigger and better than normal next year.”
With the number of teams normally committed to attending the Neosho Holiday Classic year in and year out, the tournament is generally a big money maker for the city of Neosho and its businesses. Sadly, like thousands of events impacted by pandemic health protocols, it is impossible for the 2020 version of the Holiday Classic to generate the same amount of revenue it has in years past.
“It will not have an economic impact like it normally does,” Branham said. “There is just no way. When you look at the amount of people who usually visit from out of town, the hotel rooms that we normally book or the travel arrangements we make from renting vans or using travel agencies, the meal services—all of those things coming together. There is no way that we could ever replicate that with this particular rendition.
“Now, I think it will be a little bit of a boom. … This is bringing people to town and they are spending dollars here, so it is still important (for the community). But if you are looking at it from the magnitude of what it usually is, there’s just no comparison to prior years.”
Even though it has been mostly doom and gloom for the country during the pandemic, there is hope on the horizon, particularly for the Neosho Holiday Classic. If travel restrictions are lifted and safety protocols are relaxed by this time next year, Branham confirmed Branco Enterprises is anticipating putting on the Neosho Holiday Classic that the area is accustomed to.
“We are not going anywhere,” Branham said. “We are going to start pre-planning for next year and reaching out to teams in hopes that the 2021 version is bigger and better than any in the past. … The plan for next year, provided we are allowed to, is to get back to a 16-team boys side with two eight-team brackets—black and gold. And we will also have a minimum of an eight-team girls bracket as well. We’ll do the same thing that we’ve done, mixing in some local teams with a lot of regional talent and some national talent as well. … We’re not going to let one bad year get us down. We are going to come back stronger and better than ever.”
