Basketball tournament raised funds for group

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

On May 8, Tap's Community Brotherhood hosted its fourth annual May Madness 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament at St. Mary's College Athletic Recreation Center. TCB would like to thank the players, referees volunteers, and sponsors for making this year's tournament a success. Close to 30 teams this year competed in the middle school, high school (junior varsity and varsity), adult men's and adult co-ed divisions.

Congratulations to all the winners who survived the grueling day of double elimination play and won their divisions. For the middle school division, The Dunking Crew took home the first-place prize for the second year in a row. In the junior varsity and varsity divisions, Team Flight and Team Takeover 1 were the winners. For adult men's division, the reigning champions for three years in a row were finally dethroned by County Legacy. In the adult co-ed division, in their first year of entry, Team Dream took home the victory.

TCB also invited other nonprofits and organizations within St. Mary's County to participate in this year's tournament by manning informational booths for their organizations. TCB would like to thank Walden Sierra, Maryland Dream and Bryant Dent Foundation for their participation. Also, a heartfelt thank you to Project Possible from Great Mills High School, which provided close to 30 volunteers. Their efforts as scorekeepers, concession workers, admission staff and general runners were greatly appreciated.

The May Madness Tournament would not be possible without the support of countless donations from friends and family as well as sponsorships with local businesses and organizations. Sponsors for the May Madness Tournament include Sanofi Aventis, St. Mary's College of Maryland, Chesapeake Technology, Travel Leaders, Blue Wind Gourmet, Enalo Imagery and Pin Pow.

A special thank you to Melissa Farr of Firefly Photography, who donated her services as this year's photographer. TCB is grateful for her hard work in capturing memories from this year's tournament.

Proceeds from the May Madness Tournament and other TCB events are donated to local and national nonprofit organizations that impact community youth through sports, arts, leadership, mentor or counseling programs. For more information on TCB events, volunteering, sponsorship opportunities or the community outreach program, visit the website at www.thetcb.org.

Diana DeCarlo, California

The writer is a member of the Tap's Community Brotherhood board of directors.