NORWICH – It’s Macker-mania in the City of Norwich as the 22nd annual Gus Macker 3-on-3 basketball tournament has once again taken to East Main Street this Saturday and Sunday, July 8 and 9, for a slam-dunk of a weekend.

For the last 22 years, the local Gus Macker tournament – sponsored by the Norwich Family YMCA – has been a staple in the greater-Norwich community, drawing thousands of basketball fans from up and down to east coast to an organized weekend of 3-on-3 basketball and family fun.

“This all started with an idea [22 years ago] of how we could bring people into our community,” said Norwich Family YMCA Executive Director Jamey Mullen. “We want people to come to our stores, eat at our restaurants, and use our hotels. We want people to know who and where we are, and I think we’ve done that. People get caught up in the competition, but the promotion of our community is the number one prize.”

Fast-forward 22 years later, and the Norwich Gus Macker tournament has been a constant within the 3-on-3 tournament’s annual ‘World Tour,’ drawing upwards of 7,000 out-of-town spectators and competitors every year to nearly double the city’s population during what locals have dubbed, “Macker weekend.”