By Paul Wein
"The first year, we raised $2,500, and this year, we raised ten times that," said Carol Miller, executive assistant of 5TCC. "Everyone did a great job."
The basketball tournament, which was started in 1997, was renamed in 2001 in honor of Adam Barsel, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident in November of 2000. Since the tournament was renamed in his memory, a portion of the proceeds from the funds raised have gone to a scholarship fund in his memory.
During the tournament, teams with alternating players competed in three-on-three games to win the first place trophy in adult, high school and middle school divisions. This year's winners were Chris Casanova, Chris Casanova Jr., Marty Fish and Alan Hoffman for the Adult Team, and Jason Casanova, Gabby Weiser, Alex Kanner in the High School Division, and Tremanie Moore, Ibraheem Shamsledin, Ahmed Shamsledin, Christian Monroy, Aron Smith for the Middle School Division.
Everyone involved in the tournament was pleased with its outcome. "It's great to see players from so many diverse groups coming together to help their neighbors, said Caroline Mudge, associate executive director of Five Towns Community Chest. "We've had a great turnout and really appreciate such strong support from the community." Craig Spatz, chairman of 5TCC, is appreciative of the community's support. "This is such a great event, it's very exciting and teams get pretty competitive," he said. "The tournament gets a lot of support from the community and we at Five Towns Community Chest and our agencies are very grateful."
Some of the sponsors who helped make the event possible are MMC International, the Lawrence Athletic Department, Spiro Financial and Insurance Services, and the Nassau Herald. The tournament was started by Alan Hoffman and Susan Libo, but has been run by Arthur Robbins since 2002. This year's committee members were Randy Platnick, Lauren Robbins, Andrea Hochman and Ross Zuckerman.
Nassau County Legislator Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside), who played in the tournament, said that he always looks forward to the event. "The basketball tournament has become a steady event on my calendar and I look forward to it every year," he said. "I want to congratulate not only the winners, but everyone who participated and made this event a success again, especially the youth board for the great job for raising money and awareness."
Comments about this story? Pwein@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
