Flint, MI—Gus Macker, the annual three-on-three basketball tournament, will be returning to Flint this summer.
Registration for the upcoming tournament, which takes place on Flint’s Downtown Flat Lot, is now open for the public. The competition is scheduled to run from July 28 to July 30 this year.
The Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village (SBEV) will be hosting the tournament, and Kaylah Baker, a project manager at SBEV, said the organization is aiming to highlight what Flint has to offer through the event.
“We want to showcase the businesses, especially the ones downtown,” Baker said. “And we want to showcase the organizations, the people that make this community, and give everybody a safe place to enjoy their love for basketball, their love for sports.”
The upcoming competition is part of Gus Macker’s tournaments nationwide, which welcome players of all experience levels. It will also be SBEV’s third time hosting, and Baker said the event has been growing every year.
In 2022, Flint’s Gus Macker saw 136 teams and more than 5,000 spectators take part, she said, and SBEV is hoping to see upwards of 170 teams participate and 7,000 audience members in 2023.
Baker added that the tournament will also be an opportunity for people from beyond the city to experience Flint’s attractions.
“We’ve become one of the biggest summer events in Flint and downtown Flint, and our goal is really to show people outside of Flint that Flint isn’t the stereotype that [they think] it is,” Baker said. “It’s actually a beautiful city.”
As for her favorite events of the tournament, Baker said the kids’ free throw contest was among the most entertaining to watch in 2022 and something she’s looking out for this year, too.
“Hopefully we can continue that, but if not, I’m looking forward to the women’s three-point contest,” Baker said, adding that proceeds from the event will go towards helping SBEV build a sportsplex and fund its sports camps.