Preparations underway for upcoming Hooplandia tournament
Ahead of the brand new three-on-three basketball tournament and festival this month, the Eastern States Exposition team has been working overtime to bring participants and fans an event they won’t forget.
The courts are painted and the hoops are up, all in preparation for the first-ever Hooplandia at The Big E fairgrounds in West Springfield. Over 70 hoops have been constructed and the grounds have been mapped out for 50 outdoor and 20 indoor basketball courts ahead of the three-day three-on-three events. Eastern States Exposition President and CEO Gene Cassidy told us this event was no ‘buzzer beater.’ He said the tournament has been about eight or nine years in the making and after several ‘fouls’ from the pandemic derailing their plans, it’s finally time to ‘rebound’ and bring basketball home.
“We were driving with a group of fair managers out in Washington state and on the highway, we saw a highway sign that said ‘Spokane, Hooptown USA,” Cassidy explained.
Cassidy said, in that moment, he thought to himself, “Hooptown is Springfield.”