A few months ago, Ronnie Ackley and his partner Adie Wynter launched a basketball company, Basketball Athletic League Lounge (BALL) with the goal of bringing young adults in the community together through the sport of basketball.
“I’ve always played basketball,” said Ackley, explaining how he uses Facebook to find out about or announce pick-up games. He noticed a lot of interest generating and decided to take things to the next level.
For years, Ackley said, Wynter has had the dream of a place for people who like basketball to can go and congregate.
“We decided to try to make this work in Boyertown, that’s where I’m from.”
The pair traveled around to local sports and, by word of mouth, was able to create enough momentum to hold a tournament.
On Saturday, Aug. 5, BALL partnered with the Boyertown Salvation Army to host the first annual 3 vs. 3 tournament. The event was a huge success, with 9 teams and a total of 100 people.
“The response we got from the players and the fans was exactly what we were hoping for. People are already asking for the next one, and we feel with more time we can emulate this event tenfold.
Through the partnership with the Salvation Army, Ackely says the group has agreed to fix up the court they’re utilizing. It’s the only court in Boyertown they play at.
Anyone ages 16-35 is welcome to participate.
“The ultimate goal is to have our own indoor facility. Once we have that, we want it to be as family oriented as possible but with the main aspect of basketball.”
BALL members play regularly three times a week at the court in Boyertown. In the winter months, Ackley says they’ll be able to move over to Morning Star Fellowship.
“We want to be able to have 10 different tournaments a year in 10 different local places.” Whoever wins the tournament gets free entry into the next tournament. “It takes a lot of planning. The first one was a great success, but we just weren’t sure how successful it was going to be.”
Local companies sponsored the event, showing support and providing players with t-shirts.
More information can be found on the Basketball Athletic League Lounge facebook page, or its website https://basketballall.wixsite.com/boyertownball