Instead of a minute of silence, Britannia threw the late Bruins basketball coach and mentor, Eric Ming, a boisterous moment of celebration before retiring his jersey on Jan. 12.
Students packed both sides of the East Side high school gymnasium and cheered during the halftime break of a senior boys game in the 43rd Britannia Bruins Invitational. Fans wore special-made pins labelled “community inspiration” with Ming’s name and the short span of his life, 1986 to 2016. A Bruin had just won the three-point contest.
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The applause showered down on Ming’s family, his parents and two siblings, who stood at centre court as a curtain was pulled back to reveal a jersey hanging near the rafters. Sunlight shone through the white fabric of Ming’s no. 21, which Britannia retired four months to the day after he died from cancer at age 30.
Alex Ming looked towards the windows and wiped away tears.
“The biggest drive he had is that he loved what he did,” Alex said afterwards. “Through all his treatment, he always came through stronger because he knew, during that time, there might come a time when he wouldn’t get to do it.”
He said the family took immense pride in Ming’s dedication to mentoring children and teens.
“A lot of the talk when my brother passed away was about his legacy,” said Alex, who was five years younger than Ming. “To see all his hard work come back and be recognized by the community in putting a jersey up --- which has never been done --- it’s a good moment, not just only for the family but for the community as well.
“For me as his brother and for everyone else here, whatever Eric meant to them, it’s a good gesture and it’s an honour.”
Ming was an assistant coach on the Britannia team that won the senior boys AA B.C. basketball championship in 2010. He coached numerous community programs, including a girls team at Night Hoops that counted many core players on the roster that won the Bruins first senior girls provincial title in school history in 2012.
A community child care worker pursuing a degree in recreational programming at Langara, Ming was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 19, but continued to build connections with hundreds of teens and peers through his years of service, nutrition and cooking lessons, and coaching.
Twitter: @MHStewart
