Freak League seeks players
YOUNGSTOWN - The Youngstown Freak League is recruiting teams.
One of the league's coordinators, Joe Stilson , says the idea for a recreational basketball league came from The Lemon Grove Café owner Jacob Harver. Once he and Dave Woodard caught wind of the idea, Stilson says they jumped on it and did the leg work.
He jokes about a Facebook status update in which they say the league was "started by a bunch of guys that have no business being on a basketball court."
The organizers, also including Sean Timms, are upfront about their inexperience in arranging a sports league. They posted the rules to a Facebook note, saying, "A lot is still waiting to be determined by monies to be moved around and the number of sign ups and teams we have such as game length, but this is what we know so far. This note will be revised as we go along. And please, any suggestions would be appreciated as this is a new venture for all of us and we admit to not knowing exactly what we're doing."
(Stilson and Woodard are both in The Suite D's, who will be playing May 22nd at the Calvin Center with The Limbs.)
Stilson says the league will benefit the Calvin Center, which will also be home to Robert Dennick Joki's new Rust Belt Theater Company.
Freak League basketball games will begin April 18th and will be played every Sunday from 6 to 9 p.m. Each night will feature several games.
"It's not as competitive as some leagues would be," Stilson says.
He says many of the participants don't play formally, but enjoy the recreational aspect of the sport. In that sense, he describes the games as "more or less a Sunday activity."
"We've talked about it on and off for years," he says.
Sunday's sign-up at the Lemon Grove was illustrative of the league's laid-back spirit, with Harver DJ'ing and food cooking on the grill as teams picked names, colors and sorted out members.
Stilson says they reached out to area bars and restaurants for teams.
If you want to sign up, forms will be available at the Lemon Grove through Tuesday. After the number of teams and players are sorted out, organizers say they'll add the individual players into teams.
Games will be co-ed have no referees. Woodard says they'll play by "gentleman's rules." Stilson say they'll have a scoring table with two people doing scoring, which can be referenced in a dispute.
Some of the rules on the group's Facebook page are:
- First possession of the ball will be determined by a foul line shootout. Players can choose one team mate to represent them in the shoot out or take turns as they see fit.
- Scoring is by 1s. There is a two point line behind the arc. There is no two point line surrounding the arc though. Dunks are worth 2 points. Sure.
- There is no requirement to have X amount of women or men on the court at any time.
Organizers say they are trying to promote the league as a spectator event that'll be family-friendly. They're evening planning a night of costumed basketball and all-star games. At half time, Stilson says, local bands will perform.
Stilson says they hope to have a summer and fall league to have games year-round. Beyond that, he says organizers are thinking of also having volleyball and dodgeball.
Comments
The pictures for the Buybacks team are goddamn hilarious. I want them to win just to see what they photoshop for a champions logo.
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