HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) -- The City of Harrisburg is the first stop in a nationwide tour for a big basketball tournament. The city partnered with NBA great Kevin Garnett's Hoop It Up to host a 3-on-3 streetball-style competition.
There is another Midstate connection. Former Trinity High School basketball standout Drew Dawson was instrumental in bringing the tournament to his hometown as the co-founder of 3x360 Sports, a group focused on expanding 3-on-3 basketball.
"It's obviously a personal thing for me," Dawson, the tournament organizer, said.
The tournament lasted for hours Saturday, held on City Island.
"If you can create an environment where people check things at the door and they're just about the common goal of having a good time around a shared passion, that's a win-win," Dawson said.
Dawson wanted to give Hoop It Up a festival feel. On top of the 61 teams participating, the event featured a DJ and food trucks, all in service of giving the community something fun to do on a Saturday.
"So you forget about your background, where you're from, you have one common thing and that's the love of basketball," Hoop It Up National Director Dan Cramer said.
Dawson said Hoop It Up celebrates the growing popularity of 3-on-3 basketball.
"3-on-3 and what it is has been played by kids across the world at every level for generations and decades," he said.
Dawson said the style of 3-on-3 helps kids build confidence, and it gives them and adults a chance to play what is now an Olympic sport.
"One day there will be a player that plays in Hoop It Up that will play in the Olympics," Cramer said.
Saturday's event was not only about basketball. Dawson partnered with Harrisburg police to host the event as part of his mission to bring people together.
"We all love sports, whether you're a police officer or whether you're a community member," Chardan Huston, Harrisburg police Director of Community Relations and Engagement, said.
Huston said this is a chance for her team to do something positive with the people they serve.
"I think that it's important for the community to see the police out and about and to see them interacting with people who are really just like them," she said.
Huston and Dawson both see this as just the beginning.
"The excitement about year two and where it could go and bringing everyone back," Dawson said.
Huston said the goal is to "Keep the momentum going for years to come."
Dawson wants next year's even to be bigger and better. He said he wants to get hundreds of teams involved.
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