LARGE TURNOUT SHOOT HOOPS NOT GUNS TOURNAMENT AND FAMILY FUN DAY IN ST. PETERS

Several hundred residents of St. Peters and interested persons showed up at the St. Peters basketball court to cheer on the athletes that participated in the Shoot Hoops, Not Guns 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament and to enjoy the surrounding family fun activities. Others simply showed up to volunteer in any way they could. Children were enjoying a clean playground, a bouncy castle, face painting, cotton candy and fun games while there were food items like BBQ and Johnny Cake, popcorn, hot dogs and refreshments on sale. Tents for these activities were provided by UTS. DJ GQ provided festive tunes throughout the day.

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At 1:30pm the 3-on3 basketball tournament kicked off with teams participating in the 12-17 and 18-26 categories. After a day of competing for the titles of District Champions there was still a thrilling 3 point shoot out that had several ties before a winner could be announced. After 6pm the following winners were announced: St. Peters District Champions 12-17 – Diaro Forsythe, Elisha Jones, Maliek Short and Shun Watson; St. Peters District Champions 18-26 – Alain Duzant, Carlos Meyers and Akeem Liburd; St. Peters  District 3 Point Shoot Out Champion  – Michael Hodge and the St. Peters District MVP – Diaro Forsythe. The winners received gift certificates from Klass Electronics and Texaco while all athletes could drink some refreshing Powerade donated by CC1.

The tournament and family fun day concluded several weeks of community activities which were made possible by the many volunteers and sponsors. Many residents saw the physical change on and around the basketball court and playground and applauded the youth for their actions to make these changes a reality. A special thank you goes out to the St. Peters Community Council and G.I.F.T.E.D. Foundation for their input.

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The Shoot Hoops, Not Guns project will now move on to Middle Region and Defiance. Dates for community building activities, the hands-on weekend and the tournament and family fun day will be announced soon. Interested persons that want to volunteer for the project or businesses that want to find out about the partnership packages can contact the Shoot Hoops, Not Guns committee via in**@is**********.com or www.facebook.com/shoothoopsnotguns.