GAINESVILLE - On any given Saturday and Sunday the Fair Street Elementary School Gymnasium in Gainesville is the place to be if you are a basketball fan.
Up to 30 teams play in open league adult competition for bragging rights and just for fun according to Reverend Victor Johnson, organizer with the Veterans Community Outreach Foundation.
"When they closed Butler Gym we kept it in the community and transferred here to Fair Street School," Johnson said. "We have teams that come from around the county and referees from the Black Referee Association. Saturday is for anyone who wants to play and on Sunday the Hispanic League plays. It's a year around sport for our black and Hispanic community. The Hispanic community has picked up on it and have organized their league very well. It's something to be seen, the people of Gainesville need to come out and look at it."
"They play hard, I've seen a lot of improvement in the leagues," said Rodney Osborne, a league referee for 17 years. "They enjoy their Saturday and Sunday league basketball, its good activity and good clean fun."
Zeferino Arriaga heads up the Hispanic League involving 18 adult teams for players age 18 to 45 that keep the Fair Street court filled with action all afternoon on Sundays. He is also one of the players.
"We have been working with the community for the past three years," Arriaga said. "This league has been growing slowly but we've been steadily working with the Hispanic community."
Arriaga said soccer is traditionally identified as the favorite sport among Hispanics, but so is basketball, at least in the Gainesville area.
"We're working to invite more teams from Athens, Cornelia and Norcross," he said. "They know that we have basketball here and they come every Sunday."
Friday
October 18th, 2024
4:52AM
