2011 Hoops for Hope Deemed Major Success!
On April 10th, 2011 the Association of Diversity in Sport once again proved why it is one of the premier clubs on the University of Massachusetts campus with it's Hoops for Hope 3-on-3 Tournament. The event kicked off at 1 PM on a beautiful April day with over 35 participants all vying for the right to be named "Tournament Champions". Most importantly ADS was able to raise over $175 for Japanese Earthquake Disaster Relief.
Many of our own ADS members played in the tournament including a team that consisted of Melcolm Ruffin (President), Christian Waterman (Treasurer), and Kenny Francis (Community Service Director). The team showed that they have more work to do in the off-season by going 1-2 in their pool play and failed to move on. Melcolm went on to say “The team didn’t advance as far as we wanted to, but we enjoyed the competition and had a lot of fun on the day. Not to mention that the rap battle was also very enjoyable.” During the tournament, RMX (Real Music Xposed) partnered with ADS and put on a live free style competition for everyone and all that wanted to try their hand at rapping. The battle was very competitive and included many close calls by the judges. ADS and everyone involved with the event never forgot that the whole reason for the fun and great day was to help the people of Japan in their time of need. We raised over 175 dollars for the Japan Relief Fund.
The tournament ended in a victory by the same team that won the 2010 Hoops for Hope tournament. For their tournament win, they received trophies (seen below), passes to the Basketball Hall of Fame, Bueno Y Sano Gift Cards, and new Spalding Basketballs courtesy of Dick’s Sporting Goods. We want to take this space to thank the Basketball Hall of Fame, Bueno Y Sano, Dick’s Sporting Goods, One Way Screen Printing and Vita Coco for helping sponsor and provide prizes for the event.
ADS is looking to expand the tournament even further in 2012 and hopes all the participants return next year to try and knock off the back-to-back champions. Special thanks to all the ADS members that volunteered and helped the event run and to Eric Wheeler and Lei Aurelio for organizing the event.