Playground in the world: Rucker Park NYC
Of course, if you
do plan on showing up to Rucker Park don't plan on stepping on the court unless
you have the skills to hang with the best in the nation. On any day you'll find
only the most elite of New York City's amateur players inhabiting the court,
and may even find the likes of Stephon Marbury or Rafer Alston, NYC born NBA
stars, showing the amatuers how it's done.
Rucker Park was
called the P.S. 156 Playground when it opened in 1956, and an influential
Harlem teacher named Holcombe Rucker soon saw its potential.
Beginning in
1947, Rucker organized a tournament around Harlem for area players as a way to
bond the community and give local kids an extracurricular activity. His motto
was "Each one, teach one" and the tournament further played into his
mission of promoting education. Often, Rucker would let grade cards influence
who could play in the tournament.
The tournament
eventually settled at P.S. 156, and it further gathered steam when a similar
pro league was started for professional players to compete in the offseason.
Some of the greatest talents in pro basketball--Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar and
Erving were the biggest names--would play alongside incredible streetball
talents out of Harlem. Those local players never received mainstream recognition
as NBA talents, but they are still talked about in New York today.
Holcombe Rucker
died of cancer in 1965 at the age of 38. His legacy was in place, though, and
it was cemented when the city of New York renamed P.S. 156 to Holcombe Rucker
Park in 1975.
Today
These days,
Rucker Park is best known as the site of the famous Entertainers Basketball
Classic summer league, which features the top streetball talents in New York
along with occasional celebrity cameos. This is where Bryant and Anthony played,
while recent appearances have included NFL stars Chad Ochocinco and Terrell
Owens.
The EBC has a
men's division which headlines the league, but it also has a high school
league, and U15, U12 and U10 divisions.
Along with being home of a more flashy game of
streetball, Rucker Park is also charmed by fast-talking MCs who call the
action, make fun of bad play, and come up with nicknames for great players that
often stick around forever. Hammond, the Harlem legend, was known as "The
Destroyer" for his game-changing scoring outbursts.
Holcombe
Rucker (1926 New York,
1965) è stato un dirigente
sportivo statunitense.
Holcombe
Rucker è stato direttore di playground per il Department of Parks & Recreation
di Harlem
dal 1948 al 1964.
Personaggio
storico del basket di
strada, fondò nel 1947 a New York il "Rucker Tournament"
un torneo o meglio una summer league nella quale le più forti squadre
dei quartieri newyorkesi si sfidano tuttora a Harlem nei
weekend di luglio e agosto in infuocate e spettacolari partite all'aperto[1].
L'idea di
Rucker era usare il basket per allontanare i ragazzini di Harlem dalla
strada e dalla droga e nel contempo conferire dignità al basket di
strada.
Il "Rucker
Tournament" partito con sole quattro squadre e un solo arbitro, a poco
a poco diventò un torneo, giocato dalla mattina fino a tarda sera, con migliaia
e migliaia di spettatori e con stelle dell'NBA che scendevano sui playground
della periferia di New York per confrontarsi con ballers di strada, alcuni dei
quali diventati leggendari.
Il nome di
Holcombe Rucker e il "Rucker Tournament" sono legati
strettamente a quello di Earl Manigault, cestista di Harlem,
scoperto da Rucker, destinato a un grande avvenire per le sue strepitose
potenzialità tecniche e distrutto dalla droga, protagonista di film, libri,
articoli, website incentrati sulla sua storia