Get ready for SilverHoops!

KELLOGG — North Idaho’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament is just a few weeks away and the organizers of the SilverHoops 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament are making sure everyone has a chance to participate.

Over the past five years, the event has grown significantly, even after losing the event in 2020 due to COVID-19, none of the previously gained traction was lost.

According to Ethan Wendt, one of SilverHoops’ organizers, with its new earlybird registration feature, the event received a record number of pre-July 1 registrations.

Settling in right around 125 teams as the average over the past few editions, with four players per team and then when you add in family members and friends — Kellogg’s City Park and the nearby basketball courts at Teeters Field suddenly become home to more than 1,000 people.

And pretty much all of them are crazy about blacktop hoops.

“SilverHoops weekend to me always feels like a family reunion,” said organizer Gus Colburn. “I always run into friends, teammates, coaches and old opponents that I haven't seen in forever. Basketball tradition runs very deep in the Silver Valley, and it is always a ton of fun seeing who shows up to hoop or spectate every year.”

One of the biggest changes that the tournament has experienced was abandoning the classic double elimination tournament and making SilverHoops a two-day tournament where Saturday was strictly pool play, and then Sunday features a single elimination tournament.

This change ensures that folks have a reason to stick around for both days, instead of losing a third of your attendance to first-day eliminations.

The reason for the change is a simple one too.

“Keeping teams around for both days is good for the vendors, sponsors and local businesses,” Wendt said.

This year, the same formula is going to be followed, but for some of the larger brackets, teams who had poor showings during their pool play may be placed in a consolation bracket that allows them to still compete on Sunday, but against more comparable teams.

“This will allow teams and players more competition, as well as a few less games on Sunday,” Wendt said.

The pool play is usually four to five games, so teams are guaranteed to get their money’s worth.

Divisions range from the little kids entering third grade and go all the way up to a men’s elite division, with several men’s, women’s and co-ed brackets in-between.

“We'll have to wait and see, but it is looking like this will be one of the bigger SilverHoops in terms of teams,” Colburn said. “This means more competition, more people visiting the community, and if they enjoy it, more people to spread the word about our tournament. A huge bonus that sets us apart from other 3-on-3 tournaments is we hire state-sanctioned referees to officiate the kids brackets. This is important because it allows the kids (and parents) to focus on basketball and not worry about reffing.”

A two-day event like SilverHoops requires options when you’re talking about that many people and there is room for plenty of options.

“We are specifically looking for food vendors,” Wendt said. “We anticipate growth from our lower numbers last year, but we don’t have as many food vendors. With the changes to tournament play, pool play Saturday and single elimination on Sunday the tournament has increased the need for food and drink vendors who can be there all-day Saturday and Sunday.”

As always, the event also features free swimming in the Kellogg City Pool, special shooting competitions, and the wildly popular slam dunk competition.

SilverHoops 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament is July 30-31.

Vendors can get more information by contacting the Silver Valley Chamber of Commerce at 208-784-0821.

Teams can register at www.silverhoops3on3.com. Late registration closes at midnight on July 25.