The sounds of dribbling basketballs and referees’ whistles cut through the air in downtown Salem on Saturday as hundreds of teams competed in the 25th annual Hoopla basketball tournament.
It was only one day before the championships on Sunday, so while competitive tensions were high as some players and teams angled for the win, the overall vibe remained relatively calm. Most people were doing their best to have some fun playing and watching basketball with family and friends.
Jason Conrad, a former professional basketball player and the president and owner of the Salem Capitals, was volunteering for Hoopla Saturday for his fourth year in a row.
“They usually send me where games can get a little chippy. Because I’m bigger and I can get in there and separate people,” said Conrad, who stands exactly 7 feet tall. “Usually championship Sunday is the chippy day. But it has been pretty good today as far as the chippiness level.”
This will be Conrad’s first year playing basketball in the tournament, he said before taking off his red volunteer shirt and replacing it with a basketball jersey.
He said events like Hoopla are good for Salem’s community culture, and that Salem is a “basketball town” given local enthusiasm for the sport.
Further down State Street, Andre Niko, 18, of The Dalles, was sitting with his mother and taking it easy before his next game. This year was his third playing in the tournament, and he said he has seen Hoopla grow over the years since he first played at 12.
For Niko, Hoopla is about making connections, and having a good time.
“To me it’s like therapy,” Niko said of the sport. “I can go out anytime with my basketball. Shoot on a hoop, and then I feel calm. I can go when I feel stressed, mad, sad. Even when I’m calm I like to shoot.”
Many of the players and teams at Hoopla got their start playing in elementary school.
Eli Starkey, 7, of Woodland, Washington, and Luke Swedman, 7, of Eugene, were on opposing teams playing each other to qualify for the championship in the AK. 7 & Under Boys division. Their parents and grandparents stood around the half-court where they played, cheering them on.
Starkey’s team pulled off the win, 11-8, and he said while he thinks his team played really well, he still made a point of being a good sport about it.
“They were pretty good also,” he said of the other team.
Swedman said he was having a good time playing basketball while his parents sat on the sidelines supporting him, but was a bit bummed about losing to Starkey’s team.
“Not so great,” Swedman said of his team’s luck this year. “We lost our first two games and we are not going to go to the last game, which is the championship game.”
Swedman said he’s happy with the way he played despite getting knocked out of the championships.
“I had a bunch of steals in my first and second game,” he said.
He said he hopes to come back next year to get a chance to beat the Woodland team.
Miles Degener, 11, and Gavyn Godfrey, 11, were both on the Salem Storm team. They had some time to kill before their first game.
The two boys are friends and said they play basketball well together.
“I’m good at shooting,” Godfrey said. “And he’s good at dribbling and driving to the hoop.”
Degener said he was looking forward to just having a good time, and if the games didn’t go his team’s way, that is OK too.
“It’s cool. If you lose some of the games on Saturday, you can come back on Sunday, the next day, and make it up,” he said.
Both boys said they are big fans of the Portland Trailblazers and players like Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons.
Teams will face off for the final championship on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and special events and award ceremonies will go on all day. A full schedule for the Hoopla event can be found online.
Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.
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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
