The 27th annual Norwich Gus Macker Tournament wraps up on downtown streets
1) Congratulations to Steve Benenati and Jeff Abbott on being inducted into the Gus Macker Hall of Fame and for being Norwich Macker Legends. (Photo by Morgan Golliver), 2) The 27th annual Norwich Gus Macker tournament welcomed 298 teams this year, including the Norwich Fire and Police Departments. 50.3 percent of the official 296 teams were under 14 years old and 72 percent were under 18. (Photo by Morgan Golliver)
NORWICH – The 27th annual Norwich Gus Macker wrapped up over the weekend, after the tournament returned to the downtown streets of Norwich. It had been five years since the tournament was played on East Main Street.
It was Gus Macker’s 50 year anniversary, celebrating 3 on 3 basketball since 1974’s inauguration in the McNeal family driveway in Lowell, Michigan.
During the opening ceremonies, Scott “Gus” McNeal introduced his staff and the Norwich YMCA staff with Sports Director Tom Revoir and Executive Director Jamey Mullen, who worked hard, along with dedicated volunteers, to make this tournament happen every year.
After giving them gifts of a Macker 50 year flag and new licensed chains, McNeal made a special announcement.
He and his staff honored two local Norwich volunteers who have been a part of the Norwich Gus Macker tournament for many years and have been notable members throughout Norwich and the YMCA. Congratulations to Steve Benenati and Jeff Abbott on being inducted into the Gus Macker Hall of Fame and for being Norwich Macker Legends. Abbott helped out at the Gus Macker Brackets tent while Benenati officiated games.
Macker officially kicked off games at 8:30 a.m. after Katie Gawronski, surrounded by her family, made the “Do or Die Shot” in honor of her father, who passed away in late April from ALS.
On Saturday and Sunday, 298 teams played with two teams being the Norwich Police Department and Norwich Fire Department. The police and fire departments squared off at high noon on the dream court, in Preferred Mutual’s first ever Battle of the Badges. The PD pulled out the 16-14 win off of Officer Vinal’s game-winning two point free throw. Preferred Mutual also made a donation to both stations.
Every court was full of players and spectators. Food vendors took over East Park and saw a lot of traffic throughout the weekend with local businesses getting support, especially NHS Football Boosters with Snow Cones on a hot day and Sherburne Blitz Boosters with pizza and candy.
Another first for the tournament was a knock out competition, sponsored by BlueOx. This competition replaced the slam dunk and three-point competition from previous years. The knock out competition had four divisions, including a 10 and under division, which had 15 kids signed up, an 11, 12, 13, 14 division, a 15, 16, 17, 18 year old division, and lastly a 19 and up division. All winners went home with gift cards to purchase apparel from Threads by Gus on the final day of Macker.
Each court had winners of first, second, and third place along with the toilet bowl trophy. Burrell’s sponsored the Sportsmanship award, where referees and scorekeepers collaborated to pick the team that they thought showed good sportsmanship and were kind to opposing teams, which Norwich is the only tournament to still honor sportsmanship.
Games resumed at 8 a.m. on Sunday and wrapped up around 5:30 p.m. The Norwich YMCA posted on Facebook that East Main Street was all cleaned up and open to the public again around 7:15 p.m, concluding a great Macker weekend.
The Norwich YMCA and Gus Macker look forward to returning in 2025 for the 28th annual tournament.
It was Gus Macker’s 50 year anniversary, celebrating 3 on 3 basketball since 1974’s inauguration in the McNeal family driveway in Lowell, Michigan.
During the opening ceremonies, Scott “Gus” McNeal introduced his staff and the Norwich YMCA staff with Sports Director Tom Revoir and Executive Director Jamey Mullen, who worked hard, along with dedicated volunteers, to make this tournament happen every year.
After giving them gifts of a Macker 50 year flag and new licensed chains, McNeal made a special announcement.
He and his staff honored two local Norwich volunteers who have been a part of the Norwich Gus Macker tournament for many years and have been notable members throughout Norwich and the YMCA. Congratulations to Steve Benenati and Jeff Abbott on being inducted into the Gus Macker Hall of Fame and for being Norwich Macker Legends. Abbott helped out at the Gus Macker Brackets tent while Benenati officiated games.
Macker officially kicked off games at 8:30 a.m. after Katie Gawronski, surrounded by her family, made the “Do or Die Shot” in honor of her father, who passed away in late April from ALS.
On Saturday and Sunday, 298 teams played with two teams being the Norwich Police Department and Norwich Fire Department. The police and fire departments squared off at high noon on the dream court, in Preferred Mutual’s first ever Battle of the Badges. The PD pulled out the 16-14 win off of Officer Vinal’s game-winning two point free throw. Preferred Mutual also made a donation to both stations.
Every court was full of players and spectators. Food vendors took over East Park and saw a lot of traffic throughout the weekend with local businesses getting support, especially NHS Football Boosters with Snow Cones on a hot day and Sherburne Blitz Boosters with pizza and candy.
Another first for the tournament was a knock out competition, sponsored by BlueOx. This competition replaced the slam dunk and three-point competition from previous years. The knock out competition had four divisions, including a 10 and under division, which had 15 kids signed up, an 11, 12, 13, 14 division, a 15, 16, 17, 18 year old division, and lastly a 19 and up division. All winners went home with gift cards to purchase apparel from Threads by Gus on the final day of Macker.
Each court had winners of first, second, and third place along with the toilet bowl trophy. Burrell’s sponsored the Sportsmanship award, where referees and scorekeepers collaborated to pick the team that they thought showed good sportsmanship and were kind to opposing teams, which Norwich is the only tournament to still honor sportsmanship.
Games resumed at 8 a.m. on Sunday and wrapped up around 5:30 p.m. The Norwich YMCA posted on Facebook that East Main Street was all cleaned up and open to the public again around 7:15 p.m, concluding a great Macker weekend.
The Norwich YMCA and Gus Macker look forward to returning in 2025 for the 28th annual tournament.
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