Give dad the gift of basketball

By Laurie Gordon
SPARTA — Looking for a unique way to celebrate Father's Day? How about some one-on-one time with dad playing two-on-two basketball? Sign up and get ready to play some hoops with dad on his special day.
The Father's Day Tournament Is being organized by BT Basketball and will be held at the Sparta PAL.
"About a year ago I was thinking about what I was going to do with my dad for the upcoming Father's Day,” said the program's owner, Brian Thomas. “My mind got to wandering and thought about how cool it would have been for my dad and I to shoot some hoops together before hitting the grill. I thought about all the kids we have in our BT Basketball program. All these parents support and go watch their kids in so many different sports. But what about actually teaming up?”
He said that he couldn't imagine a more enjoyable experience for a father to experience before going on with the rest of the day.
“It turned out to be a tremendous hit so it was a no brainer to do it again,” Thomas said. “To simply watch the joy on all the dad's faces as they partnered up with the son or daughter. Just really, really cool. I can't wait to do it again."
The tournament is open to boys and girls from fourth grade up to high school. Teams will be broken into proper divisions and must pre-register by Friday, June 15. (There will be no walk ups on Father's Day.) Games will start at 9 am, and teams will be e-mailed their specific start time on Saturday June 16 after all teams are properly assigned. Games will be the first team to 15 or 15 minutes of play and there will be a two game minimum. Cost is $60 per team.
Summer League
“The 6th annual BT Basketball Summer League is designed to give local kids the opportunity to keep their skills sharp in competitive games, and stay local to do it,” Thomas said. “We have teams at virtually every level both boys and girls and are looking to continue to grow. Sign up your team today to keep playing in real games this summer.”
For information about the summer league, visit: <URL destination="http://brianthomasbasketball.com/clinics/summer-league/ ">brianthomasbasketball.com/clinics/summer-league/
</URL>Summer Camp
The BT Basketball Summer Camp is an all inclusive basketball experience.
Thomas said, “We combine both fun and hard work to maximize player growth and enjoyment. Skill work, competitions, games and the best area high school and college players to help teach and interact with all players. Kids will have the opportunity to learn new drills that they can use all year round, play in competitive games and have enormous amounts of fun.”
This year's summer camps will be held for boys entering grades one through nine from Monday, July 16 through Friday, July 19 from 9 am to 2 pm. For girls entering grades one through nine, camp dates will be Monday, July 23 through Friday, July 26 from 9 am to 2 pm. Pre-registration date for both camps is by May 1 for $160 and after May 1, the cost will be $180.
The Sparta PAL is located at 38 Station Road, in Sparta, next to Station Park.