Falls to host prestigious 3-on-3 basketball tourney
Niagara Falls will host its first ever Gus Macker three-on-three basketball tournament in September.
The event, scheduled to take place on Queen Street Sept. 22 to 24, was secured by Celebrate Old Downtown Community Corp., a non-profit organization with a mandate to promote the downtown core by hosting a number of special events.
Tournament organizers hope to attract more than 200 teams from Niagara, and all communities within three hours of Niagara Falls.
Mike Kemp, of Gus Macker Canada, said it’s the biggest three-on-three basketball tournament in the United States.
“They travel all around the United States. It brings a ton of people together throughout the communities, and they just put on an amazing event for all ages,” he said.
“I’m 33 years old and I’m still playing in them, and you’ve got kids that are eight years old playing in them.”
Kemp, who remembers playing three-on-three basketball as a kid on Queen Street, has participated in the Gus Macker tournament for the last 12 years.
He said he has always wanted to bring the tournament to Niagara Falls.
The tournament began in 1974.
“They did used to have a tournament in London, Ont. They had 1,600 teams that would participate on the same weekend, every summer,” said Kemp.
“That’s the ultimate goal that we’re going to try to continue for Niagara. In the first year, what we’re really focusing in on, and trying to get to, is 250 teams for the first weekend. The ultimate goal is to get up to 1,000 teams in the next five or seven years.”
He said there will be “much more than basketball” going on throughout the event weekend.
There will be skills contests, vendors, food and entertainment.
Kemp said Queen Street is “such a great venue” for the tournament because it’s close to the falls, and close to “great venues.”
“The way that everything is set up with the 250-team tournament, we’re really going to utilize the downtown,” he said.
Kemp said two charities will benefit from the tournament — Ronald McDonald House of Central Ontario, and Heart Niagara. Kemp is a board member of Ronald McDonald House.
“The biggest thing for us this year is team registration,” said Kemp.
“We need to get up to 250 teams — that’s the goal. The tournament doesn’t run unless we have teams, so as much as we can get the word out there that this is going on. Gus Macker is back in Canada. It hasn’t been in Canada in 10 years, so this is the inaugural year for us … so hopefully we can start to build on this thing for years to come.”
Kemp said it costs US$116 per team.
He said when a person signs up a team, tournament officials look at the person’s age, and what level they play at.
Kemp said officials will schedule divisions to accommodate different skill levels.
“You won’t play against a guy that’s just coming out of college ball. You’ll play against guys that haven’t played for quite some time, played at a decent level, and the competition will be pretty good.”
He said there are four players per team, plus about 10 other people that come with each team, including parents, siblings, friends and spectators.
Karen Stearne, chairwoman for Celebrate Old Downtown, said she’s “really excited” to have secured the tournament.
“Our mission really is to do more events, and to provide more entertainment, and link the arts and culture district of Queen Street together,” she said.
“For me, for my other job (executive director at Heart Niagara), I’m just happy to include more events that are around health and physical activity, so for us this was a perfect opportunity.”