The Oak Bluffs summer basketball league beat the buzzer on Thursday evening. In danger of missing its first active season in more than 45 years, the historic league received enough participating players before its 6 p.m. sign-up deadline at the Niantic Park basketball courts.
“If I don’t have a minimum of six guys per team signed up and paid for, there won’t be a summer league,” explained Oak Bluffs recreational director Marc Rivers earlier on Thursday.
Mr. Rivers needed at least 48 players signed and paid for at the deadline. Before Tuesday, a handful of people had given him their names without officially signing up. Only four kids officially registered at one point. Tired of empty promises, Mr. Rivers created an ultimatum: Either sign up and pay, or sit-out an entire summer.
A crowd he described in “swarms” filled the park shortly after 4 p.m. Due to last-second chaos, Mr. Rivers agreed to postpone the sign-up fee until Tuesday. Enough players for six teams filled the court. Back from the brink, the summer league tipped-off at 6:15 p.m.
At one point in its history, the league never worried about survival.
The summer league started in the winter of 1969-1970. Former regional high school boys basketball coach Jay Schofield worked with former teacher Dan McCarthy and former Oak Bluffs police chief Peter Williamson to create the league, which once overflowed with participants.
Decades ago four different divisions consisted of eight teams of 10 players. Children in grammar school played in the college division, middle school kids the semi-pro, high school kids the ABA, and college kids the NBA.
Only two divisions exist in today’s league. An NCAA division fields high-school players while the NBA division showcases college-level talent. Year-after-year, the NBA division continually evolves into a men’s league, according to Mr. Rivers.
A shortage of players creates a fluid age-group structure. High-school kids seeking a challenge find themselves shoulder-to-shoulder with men. Middle school kids, desperate for a chance to play, try and keep up the pace with varsity high-school athletes.
Mr. Rivers, a resident of Oak Bluffs, has served the league for over 25 years. He was also a regular on the courts as a kid.
“If it was me back in the heyday and any of my friends, we would have been hanging on the fence drooling.”
Mr. Rivers held the Island’s mercurial summer population responsible for the league’s lack of interest. Fewer kids stay on the Island for an entire summer. More financially savvy families opt to rent their homes, according to Mr. Rivers.
“Back then, people summered here,” he explained. “They got out of school, they packed, they were here a week later and they stayed past Labor Day.”
All six summer league teams play two nights a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Games begin at 6:15 p.m., 7:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Mr. Rivers hopes to squeeze in 10 games for each team, pushing the season’s playoffs toward August 27.
“I’ve have my crew in place,” he said. “I’ve got the jerseys, I’ve got everything. We’re ready to go.”
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