Last month, 34 teams from all across the New York/ New Jersey area came out to participate in the inaugural Play4Partners event, held in Long Island, New York. While the prizes for the winning team were enticing and exciting, it was the true love for competition and a desire to help a great cause that brought out all these teams to compete. The players expected a great experience and they were definitely not disappointed.
Play4Partners strove to separate itself from other tournaments that have been held in the area in the past. “We knew that we had a tough task in front of us,” said Yisroel Mayer Merkin, executive director of Partners in Torah and tournament director. “This area has seen its fair share of basketball tournaments and expects a great competition. We needed to offer an experience that they hadn’t seen in any other tournament without losing the quality of the play and competition. We wanted to create a hybrid. Guys had played in basketball tournaments and had been wined and dined at dinners and events. The trick was to combine the two and give them a true ultimate experience.”
With a tiered tournament, designed to challenge each team according to its skill level, the Play4Partners tournament created a balanced and competitive atmosphere. Every team felt that it had a chance to come home a champion and the excitement was felt by everybody there. It was truly a memorable event, and the players left eagerly anticipating the next Play4Partners competition.
The wait is over: on Sunday, June 11, from 6-10p.m., the second Play4Partners tournament will be held at Downtown Sports in Mahwah. Registration is free with a commitment to raise funds to support your team. Corporate team sponsorship opportunities exist as well, but act fast as limited teams are still available. This tournament will once again have tiered competition levels, exclusive prizes for top fundraising teams and top fundraisers. The winning team gets VIP basketball experience, but it will be a great family event with an elegant buffet available for all players and their fans. To sign your team up go to
www.play4partners.com
Play4Partners helps benefit Partners in Torah, the true trailblazer in the world of Jewish unity and outreach. In the past 23 years over 68,000 people have learned through Partners in Torah, while 5,000 currently learn weekly through this great program. The idea is simple yet revolutionary. Partners in Torah taps into the potential of every Jew and gives them the opportunity to reach out to their fellow Jew to befriend them, to educate them and to bring them closer to the greater Jewish community.
