By Robert Whitmire

Dust off your tennies and sharpen your shooting form — Gus Macker is back.

The 2nd annual Gus Macker will take place in Downtown Stevens Point Sept. 9-10, with game courts set up along Crosby Ave. and in the MSTC parking lot.

What began in 1974 as a friendly driveway competition between friends in Lowell, Michigan now finds itself with tournaments in parking lots and on city streets across the country each year. The goal? To provide an entertaining and competitive weekend of basketball with proceeds from the tournament going to a local fundraiser.

The entry fee for this year is set at $140 per team.

Tournament organizers anticipate about 200 teams will be on hand to participate in the 3-on-3 street ball tourney, up from 162 teams last year.

“On average the Macker brings in about an extra 5,000 to 8,000 people into Stevens Point throughout the weekend,” said tourney organizer Keith Schwenn.

Registration is open through Aug. 21 online at www.Macker.com.

Tournament highlights include a celebrity game on Friday between WAOW members and NRG media disc jockeys. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 PM Friday, Sept. 8.

Also included in the weekend activities is a slam-dunk contest, with local celebrity judges, who have yet to be announced, and a free-throw tournament.

Gus Macker returned to Stevens Point last year as a nonprofit event, with proceeds going towards a new indoor sports facility on the city’s east side.

Volunteers are still needed to help with the event, Schwenn said, to include court supervisors, scorekeepers, referees and more. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Tom Coleman [email protected].