A new Butler City basketball tournament will be taking place later this month.
It’s an outdoor 3 on 3 tournament that will happen at various city parks.
Butler City Councilman Jeff Smith says the idea started as a way to reconnect people with their neighborhoods.
“The thought was to have basketball championships for the city; break it up and pay homage to the old neighborhood concept,” Smith said.
He mentioned the former neighborhood nights that brought communities together along with the former Butler Midget Football League that broke teams down based on where kids lived in the city.
“You can still see that impact in the city,” Smith said. “Street signs are still colored coded based on team locations. Penn Street is still red and white for the Cardinals, Institute Hill is green and white for the mustangs, and the South Side is blue and white for the Blue Streaks. So I think that’s an awesome piece of history.”
The event is broken into separate boys and girls tournaments with three divisions determined by age. Smith, who also oversees parks in his role as city councilman, also said this is a great opportunity to showcase the city parks.
“I’m really proud of the job that Rod Huey, who is park superintendent, and his team have done,” Smith said. “Not that they weren’t nice before, but I really think they’re a step up.”
The tournament will be held on July 26th and 27th—the deadline to register is next Tuesday.
Register for the tournament here.