Street tournament set for second year in Snoqualmie
July 9, 2008
By Ryan Piersol
The streets of Snoqualmie Ridge are about to shut down and make way for a mass of bouncing basketballs.
The second annual Snoqualmie Casino 3-on-3 Tournament will be July 19-20 on the Ridge, hosting players from around the Puget Sound region. More than 200 athletes participated in the event last year, and organizers expect at least that many this time.
The idea for the tournament came from watching Spokane Hoopfest, which boasts that it has the largest 3-on-3 tournament on the planet.
“We really wanted to model ours after theirs,” said Jeff Orswell of Orswell Events, which produces the tournament. “And one of the things we liked about Spokane’s is that it was right down the middle of the street. The novelty of closing streets for a basketball tournament is pretty neat.”
Ridge Street, from Center Boulevard to Fairway Avenue, will be closed from 9 a.m. to the conclusion of the tournament Sunday evening. The tournament will use a large number of temporary goals and the street as a playing surface.
There are both male and female divisions for elementary age, intermediate, high school, adult and over 40s. The winners of each division get a champions T-shirt, but no cash prizes.
Every player who registers gets an outdoor basketball with the event logo on it.
“We have some very competitive teams come out where the smallest dude might be 6-2. And we have teams who come out just for fun,” Orswell said. “It’s great having it on Snoqualmie Ridge. The community up there is very family-oriented. We have a lot of kids activities and a lot of food up there for everyone.”
The tournament doesn’t allow dunking, but does hold a dunk contest on a 6-foot hoop for athletes in grades 3-5.
Seventy-seven teams registered last year, but 62 of those did so in the final 10 days of the registration period. As of last week, the tournament had close to 40 signed up and was expecting a lot more to do so soon.
“Last year, it was the third-largest tournament in the state and we rolled it out there with a very limited, 90-day marketing period,” Orswell said.
“We’ve done a lot more in terms of marketing and promotion this year, so we should see a pretty significant number of teams.”
The final day to register is July 15. To do so, go to www.snoqualmie3on3.com.
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