The first Hanukkah Hoops basketball tournament has been scheduled over the first five days of the eight-day festival, with the goal of raising money for various charities. The five-day event begins Tuesday, Dec. 20 and runs through Dec. 24 at Dream Courts, a new facility in Hayward that bills itself as “the largest indoor sports facility in the nation.”
The tournament is open to all ages, men and women, boys and girls, and people of all skill levels. There will be eight divisions, pitting teams in five-on-five games, and each team must have at least one Jew on its roster..
Founder Jay Randy Gordon has also planned a trick shot shootout, a free throw contest and several other fun competitions (such as a half-court heave).
Billed in a press release as “a tournament for the rest of us,” Hanukkah Hoops hopes to expand to 12 markets next season. The Hayward event, which will include a lighting of the menorah as the sun sets to begin the first night of Chanukah, will be the only event this year.
Teams must pay a $180 entry fee, $48 of which will be donated to charities such as Performing Stars of Marin (which provides youth with training in dance, music and drama) and Roots of Peace, a San Rafael–based organization dedicated to the eradication of land mines worldwide.
For more information or to register a team, go to www.hanukkahhoops.com.