This past weekend, Everest hosted the 16th Annual Pope Benedict XVI Tournament, fondly called the B16. This fun experience is powered by Everest and ECYD. ECYD is an international Catholic association of adolescents who make a commitment of friendship with Christ and one another to build up a new world according to the Gospel. ECYD is the charism of Regnum Christi lived by youth. ECYD stands for Encounters, Convictions, Your Decisions. Life in ECYD revolves around five elements: prayer and sacramental life, team life, formation, accompaniment and apostolate.
These five elements are meant to be experiences of encounter through which an adolescent can forge their convictions and decisions in accordance with ECYD spirituality. During the B16, high school coaches, volunteers, and faculty and staff assure elements are present. The tournament began with praying the Rosary as a group and concluded with Mass.
The girls live team life by in their assigned teams for the weekend and with these teams they compete in basketball, soccer, and street hockey. Formation activities include chapel visits and team pep talks. Accompaniment is also given by the coaches who spend the entire time with their team. Lastly, teams participate in two service project rooms for apostolate. They made cards for the residents at Lourdes Nursing Home and also made Rosaries to for the homeless and poor in Detroit.
Everest high school students participate as coaches, refs, and volunteers all weekend. While high school students are required to complete service hours each year, many have already completed their requirement and they volunteer because they love the experience and want to make a difference. Junior Angela Tibudan volunteered in the concession stand and shared, “Serving others is the best way of humbling yourself, and I like making the weekend fun for the girls like it was fun for me when I was in the academy. Giving the girls a Christ-centered weekend built around teamwork and charity is what it’s all about. Working concessions helped me find Christ in the people I was working with and has inspired me to keep up that kind of awareness for the future.”
