2015 Hoops Madness winners (from left) Brian Kelly, Tim Fitzgerald, Tom Kelly and Jack Conran collected an award shortly after winning its championship game.

by Brendan Sample

For the fourth year in a row, the Chestnut Hill Community Association will host its Hoops Madness 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 26. The tournament will be held at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, 500 West Willow Grove Ave., and will go from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Open to both kids and adults, Hoops Madness takes a cue from March Madness in offering a bracket-style tournament for kids based on age. The games are played half-court, with anywhere between six and eight games often being played at once in the adjacent Kingsley and Woodward Gyms.

There will also be shooting contests in addition to the regular games, including a half-court shooting competition.

Brien Tilley, former CHCA president and organizer of the tournament, is enthusiastic that Hoops Madness will continue to be a fun and high-energy event that will galvanize the surrounding community.

“It’s always fun seeing kids come back year after year and also seeing new faces,” he said. “I really enjoy seeing the reach this event has and just the excitement that it brings to the kids and their families.”

While there won’t be any changes to the format of the tournament this year, Tilley did say that the community association would like to make it a two-day event starting next year.

Though nothing is officially in place, the idea is to have a free clinic for kids the night before the main event. Kids would be trained for the upcoming games by Matt Paul Sports, one of the tournament’s sponsors that also supplies basketballs, referees and coaches. Shooting competitions also would be held.

Even without the inclusion of the clinic this year, Tilley is still encouraging families to come out on Friday night to the Town Hall on 8434 Germantown Ave. to check-in beforehand. In addition, people who have registered will also be able to pick up their Hoops Madness T-shirt and wristband to have ready before the games.

For anyone wanting to register to play, the cost is $15 for kids 6-18, $20 for adult CHCA members, and $25 for non-members. Anyone wishing to simply watch the games on the sidelines is encouraged to come for free.

Players are encouraged to register in teams of four, having an extra player in case of injury, illness or another factor, though single players can still sign up and be assigned to another team. With a couple weeks left until the tournament, it’s still not too late to register.

While events like Hoops Madness do serve to provide something enjoyable for the community, they also do plenty to help the organization putting it on as well.

“Events like Hoops Madness help us to fulfill our other missions in the community,” Tilley explained. “The money made from things like this allow us to continue being a nonprofit that can fund other fun events.”

The community association also wanted to thank its sponsors for allowing it to put the tournament on: Bowman Properties, The Goldberg Group, Wm. A. Kilian Hardware Co., Top of the Hill Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, Cosimos Pizza, Chestnut Hill Sports, Valley Green Bank, Elfant Wissahickon Philadelphia Realtors, McNally’s Tavern and Blake Development Corporation.

(Note: CHCA is waiting on official confirmation from Temple Orthopedics and Nolan Painting as sponsors. They’re expected to be sponsors, but it’s not yet official as of this writing.)