‘Hoops Madness’ event a hit for the Hill

Posted 3/27/13

Team Kansas State was just one of the many winners at the Chestnut Hill Community Association's Hoops Madness on Saturday, March 23. Team members are (from left) Sam Pie, Tommy Scanlin, Drew Gordon …

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‘Hoops Madness’ event a hit for the Hill

Posted

Team Kansas State was just one of the many winners at the Chestnut Hill Community Association's Hoops Madness on Saturday, March 23. Team members are (from left) Sam Pie, Tommy Scanlin, Drew Gordon and Vicky Shevchenko. (Photo by Sue Ann Rybak)

by Brien Tilley - CHCA president

Saturday’s CHCA Hoops Madness 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament – the first of what I hope will be an annual event for the Chestnut Hill Community Association – was a great success.

The day began at 9 a.m. with a rush of enthusiastic basketball players who descended on the registration table at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy and quickly filled the courts of two gyms to start playing hoops. So great was the response that all available slots were filled by 120 players. And that's not counting the hundreds of family members who came to watch.

The players ranged in size from 3’3” to 6’7” tall, and in age from 5 to 50-years old (or more). They formed teams named after March Madness competitors and were divided into four groups. Each team competed to win its respective bracket.

The eventual winning teams in each bracket were: Ages 6-8: Baylor; Ages 9-12: Harvard and Kansas State; Ages 13-18: Penn State; Adult team winners: UCONN. Foul shooting awards went to Tahir Parker (Ages 6-8); Christian Mazzarelli (Ages 9-12); Joel Thibodeau (Ages 13-18); and Samir Hickson (Adult). Three-point shooting winners were Sam Bair (Ages 13-18), and Samir Hickson (Adult).

This great day was made possible by so many community-spirited contributors: Matt Paul and his referees Bart Jeannette and Mike Christianson; sponsors Chestnut Hill Sports, Cosimo’s Pizza Café, McNally’s Tavern, Temple Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine (with Dr. Matthew Lorei and Trainer George Sporing), Children of America, Valley Green Bank, Penn Cardiology at Chestnut Hill, and Nolan Painting; and last but not least, Chestnut Hill Hospital, which provided a team of basketball-playing doctors and staff, and an on-site ambulance that was thankfully not needed. Prizes were donated by Cosimo’s, Chill on the Hill, Scoogi’s Classic Italian Restaurant, and Sam’s Italian Market.

Key to the success of the event were the individuals who put the event together and kept the day flowing. Thanks first and foremost to Celeste Hardester, CHCA Community Manager, who believed in my vision and put all of her energy into making it a reality; Matt Paul, whose complete optimism kept the momentum; and volunteer Eileen Lewis, who put her accounting expertise to work in managing the registrations and rode the rapids for the120 people who quickly came through registration.

Thanks also to Tom Amodie, Amy Buchanan, Ken Flaxman, Rick Gordon, Steve Harvey, Joe Magarity, Jim and Janine Mazzarelli, Liz Oettinger, Kate Palopoli of Matt Paul Basketball, Joe Pié, Paula Riley, Jen Tilley, Susie Valinis, and CHCA board directors Mike Chomentowski, Bob Rossman, Tom Cullen, and Rob Lamb.

Hoops Madness was a great way to bring the community together, youth and adult, families with families, students from many different schools, boys and girls, all on the courts playing and competing with each other. I look forward with anticipation to an even bigger and better Second Annual Hoops Madness in March 2014.

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