BADEN SPONSORED GIRLS HOOP TOURNEY SET FOR CHICOPEE MASSACHUSETTS
[Mar-5-2006]
(Courtesy of The Republican)
SPRINGFIELD, MA - The "Szlats" Memorial Tournament Committee will host its 13th annual basketball tourney for girls in Grades 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 between March 13 and March 19.
The tournament honors the memory of Ed Szlachetka, who was a coach and friend of girls basketball, and his commitment to promoting good sportsmanship and quality athletics for young women.
Also on schedule will be the annual alumni game and the Western Massachusetts High School Co-Ed Hot Shot Contest to be played on March 14 at 5:30 p.m. in Chicopee High School.
Each year, the memorial tournament attracts more than 50 teams from the local Western Massachusetts area, including the Berkshires and as far as Framingham, Connecticut, New York and Vermont.
Each team plays three games during the week. Winners advance to the weekend with the semifinals and finals are March 19 at Chicopee High and Chicopee Comprehensive High.
In addition to the championship player and team awards, the tournament committee will announce the Sportsmanship Team Award. This award will be given to one team that exemplifies the true spirit of the tournament - good sportsmanship. Each player will be honored with a Baden Perfectionâ„¢ basketball - the official basketball of the tournament and the Team Sportsmanship Award, donated by Discount Trophy of East Hartford, Conn.
Baden Sports Inc. of Federal Way, Wash., is sponsoring the tournament for the next five years. In turn, the tournament committee has chosen the Baden Perfectionâ„¢ Elite basketball as the official ball for all the games.
According to Bill LaBrecque of the committee, the Szlats Committee decided to look for the best basketball it could find and a sponsor that had a common passion with the originators of the tournament. LaBrecque said after being turned down by a local basketball manufacturer, the committee found Baden Sports Inc. willing to provide basketballs and to commit to a long-term association.
The Baden Perfectionâ„¢ Elite basketball is the chosen ball of coaching legends Pat Summitt at the University of Tennessee and Bob Knight at Texas Tech University among many others.
The ball will also be used at the Western Massachusetts High School Co-Ed team Hot Shot Contest, also hosted by the Szlats Committee at Chicopee Comprehensive High School, from March 14 to March 20.
Official Ball of Szlatts Memorial
