Holiday tournaments are everywhere. Have been since way, way back. In fact, these days it seems the more there are, the merrier.

Most boys’ and girls’ basketball teams, and even soccer teams, schedule themselves to play at least one tournament during the Christmas/New Year holiday break.

Coaches generally agree they are beneficial. If they did not play in some kind of tournament, their teams would not be together much over the two-week period students are out of the classrooms and “hanging” with family and friends.

“The purpose of these things is to keep sharp,” said Cape Coral girls’ basketball coach Olivia Myers. “With so much socializing going on it helps keep focused.”

The Seahawks make their only holiday tournament appearance next week in the Brothers Basketball Invitational played at Lehigh. Their first game is at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday against Riviera Beach.

“You want to give the kids time off, but not too much time,” said Ida Baker boys’ basketball coach Brad Seiss. “Two weeks of practices gets monotonous, so you prefer to give them game time.”

“You’ve got to win three games in February, so these tournaments get you ready for that,” said Cape High boys’ coach Mark Rinehart.

“You take two weeks off and you won’t be as sharp when you get back to district in January, so it’s a necessary evil,” said Mariner boys’ coach James Harris. “It’s a Catch-22 with tournaments. You want to play teams you don’t normally see, get outside your district.”

The Tritons, who just completed an eight-team holiday tournament they hosted at Frank Morris Gymnasium, go across Alligator Alley to Miami for a three-day tourney at Chaminade-Madonna Prep. Their first opponent on Tuesday is Parkway Academy.

“This is the first year in a while that we did not go out of state,” said Rinehart, who takes the Seahawks to Naples Monday to start play in the four-day Gulfshore Shootout.

“It’s good for us. We approach the season in segments. One before the break, use the tourney to refocus, and head into January for the six-week season to get ready for district tournament.”

Tournaments present a number of challenges for participants.

Family time for the students and coaches over the holidays need to be coordinated around the tournament schedule.

Funds to cover expenses for travel as well as hotel rooms and meals (if necessary).

And, choosing a tournament months in advance from perhaps dozens of invitations.

“You want to go where you can compete,” said Rinehart. “No one enjoys getting drilled by 40 points. Word of mouth plays into it when selecting a tournament.”

“Any time you play games, the kids enjoy that rather than practicing,” added Harris.

“We grew a lot as a team last year when one player caught fire. Teams in the area could not scout us and it helped turn our season around after that.”

Traveling to a tournament has its advantages over hosting one, too.

“It’s nice to host a tournament because you are at home and can set up the bracket to suit yourself,” said Seiss. “Personally, I like to go play in someone else’s tournament. The kids get excited about that.”

“We had the North of the River tournament, but some schools have different end dates for the holiday break, so it can be difficult to arrange,” said Rinehart. “Kids like to go someplace else, hole up in a hotel and play a lot of games.”

Nothing prepares teams for the grind of district and state playoffs than playing multiple games over a few days like holiday tourneys.

“District games place a lot of significance on those nine games,” said Rinehart. “The more games you play with significance, the better you dan do. The better you are, the better invitations you will get.”

Baker’s holiday challenge begins at 3 p.m. Monday when they tip off the three-day Lehigh Regional Medical Center Holiday Madness tournament at East Lee County High School, against South Fort Myers.