Gus Macker is here. The hoops are up and neatly arranged, and East Main Street is now closed off until early Sunday evening. The 3-on-3 tournament, now in its 11th year, comes the same time every year on the second weekend of July. This year in particular, the timing could not have been any better.
Norwich, as a community, is still righting itself from the loss of its leader, Robert Raphael, who passed away a few weeks ago. And Norwich, along with the surrounding area, is slowly returning to the normalcy after the 2006’s devastating flood.
And as everyone is well aware, Mother Nature has acted miserly through the first few weeks of summer time in doling out the sunshine; however, local forecasts call for two days of fair weather – weather that should allow action to go off without a hitch.
Speaking of going off without a hitch, the primary organizers of this tournament and lead organization – the Norwich YMCA – does such a great job each year ensuring a smooth-running ship, that it almost seems like a given – something we all take for granted. But there is so much more than meets the eye.
For a small community drawing in thousands of spectators and over 1,600 players, it can be an awe-inspiring task. YMCA director Tom Revoir, and executive director, Jamey Mullen, are so seasoned at the planning and organizing, it’s almost second nature to them. Those two delegated some important duties over the years to some of the most dedicated people you will ever find. These are community members are devoted to something much bigger than themselves – an event that brings people together. The same people have been in place from the officiating and bracket tent, to the water suppliers, scorekeepers, and officials. Continuity is indeed to the key to the Norwich’s Macker’s smooth-running ship.
In early 1996, Norwich explored the idea of bringing a basketball tournament to Norwich, and Gus Macker’s organization promoted itself from the start as a family-oriented tournament. There ideals seemed more than appropriate, and the YMCA – whose centerpiece within its motto is building strong families and communities – grabbed the “bull by the horns” to plan and organize. The tournament grew quickly, and when 500 four-person teams were filling up our local streets at one point, I kind of missed the whole purpose of the tournament. We were so inundated with basketball-loving men, women, and children. However, within those 500 teams, came multi-generational connections, friends reacquainting themselves, out-of-towners discovering new-found chums, and a whole lot of networking going on. Young men and women, as competitive as they come, noticed a rival’s similar competitiveness, and it has become quite common to see these one-time opponents teaming up with another in other hoops tournaments. Basketball seems to bridge the supposed gaps and differences in all people.
Amongst all this positivity, let’s also not forget the true backbone of this tournament and any other major event our community presents to the public: The volunteers. Those people who give their time freely from picking up garbage, water and beverage suppliers, the medical and fire personnel, and Gus Busters. The same people are there every year, acting on behalf of the tournament, but also acting on behalf of the populace. Each year the tournament struggles to grab as many people as they can. Under the sun – and sometimes under the gun with belligerent fans – volunteers have guaranteed this tournament’s return every year. And now over a decade old, Gus Macker has shown no signs of slowing down.