Rockstars to participate in Chicago Pro-Am
July 5, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Chicago Rockstars News Release
Chicago, IL. The ABA Chicago Rockstars will enter a number of potential players into the famed Chicago Pro-AM at the Illinois Institute of Technology this Saturday. The Chicago Pro-AM is a non-profit organization that conducts semi-professional basketball leagues during the summer (June-August) to provide structured leisure activities/entertainment for the inner-city youth as well as for the Chicago and Chicagoland area.
These semi-professional basketball games give many inner city youth who would not be able to attend professional games an opportunity to participate and attend a more wholesome recreational activity.
In 1980, under the direction of Cecil Watkins, the NBA organized the National Pro-AM City Leagues by uniting eight NBA cities, which had existing city league programs. Over the next eight years, existing city leagues or newly created leagues in fourteen additional NBA cities joined the original eight, giving the 1987 season a total of 22 Pro-AM leagues.
The mission of the Chicago Pro-AM is three fold. First, the league serves as a training ground for league personnel including administrators, coaches, photographers, trainers and media interns. An important aspect of this program, one that we are most proud of, is our educational component. The organization hires young people between the ages of 8 and 21 years of age to assist us in running the program. In this way, they not only learn about basketball, enjoy a sport they love, they also learn the responsibilities of holding a job. This is an avenue to develop their skills for possible advancement to amateur, semi-professional and professional levels. Secondly, the semi-professional basketball games provide inner city youth who may not be able to attend professional games the opportunity to participate in and attend these games free of charge or for a minimal fee. Finally, it provides professional NBA, ABA, semi-pro and amateur players the opportunity to build and hone their skills while providing a service to the community. The program is successful and serves as a model for other participating cities.
The Rockstars coaching staff led by Kenny Williams, Michael Harris and George Keehn will have ample opportunities to evaluate talent for the upcoming season. "It will give us a chance to see the guys perform on a highly competitive basis," said Coach Williams. "The Rockstars will rotate different players from their tryout camps during the course of the tournament." For the seventh consecutive year, IIT is host to the Addias Chicago Summer Pro-AM Basketball League, which kicked off Saturday June 22 and will continue through Sunday, August 11.
The popular summer league consists of men and women's divisions and includes top players from the NBA, the NCAA, the ABA and European Leagues. Past participants in the Pro-AM games have included Shawn Marion of the Phoenix Suns, Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tim Hardaway of the Miami Heat, Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers, Michael Finlen of the San Antonio Spurs, Glenn Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs and Antoine Walker of the Miami Heat.
Men's games are scheduled Friday evenings at 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday evenings at 5:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Woman's games will be played on Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. Admission is free and concessions are available. All games take place at Keating Hall located at 3040 S. Wabash Avenue, Chicago IL 60616. For more information about the Pro-AM League, contact David Baker at bakerd@lit.edu. Or visit www.rockstarbasketball.com or www.abalive.com.
Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.
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