Dates set for Sisters Shootout

The Sisters Park & Recreation District (SPRD) has announced the January/February dates for this year's Sisters Shootout basketball tournaments, which serve as a fundraiser for the Sisters High School boys basketball team, and the 7th and 8th grade club program.

"These fantastic sporting showcases are possibly the longest continuously running basketball tournaments in the state," said SPRD Executive Director Liam Hughes. "Last year, between the two tournaments there were around 100 teams, 1,000 participants and 5,000 to 6,000 spectators. Many of these teams came from outside the area to participate, staying in local hotels, eating at local restaurants and visiting local shops.

Sisters High School boys basketball Coach Rand Runco was one of the tournament's founders, and helped explain the history behind the tournaments:

"We started the tournaments for three main reasons: To give our kids the chance to play high-quality opponents from outside of our local area, without having to incur the effort and expense of traveling all over the state; to fundraise for the high school boys basketball program; and to bring business to the town during a slow time of year."

Such tournaments have grown in popularity since Sisters' pioneering efforts.

"In the early days it was just one guy out of Portland and us running tournaments in Oregon," Runco noted. "Now every town has them, and that competition makes it a lot more difficult to make these tournaments profitable. Expenses keep rising, and because of all the competition, it's difficult for us to raise our entry fees. So this has left us trying to be creative, adding contests, charging gate fees, selling concessions, and looking for sponsors, to make these tournaments remain viable."

The tournaments have a significant economic impact in Sisters, during the slow period of winter. Visitors lodge, dine, and shop in Sisters.

"Last year I had a bunch of folks stop me on the street after the tournaments and ask if we can give a little more advanced notice of the tournaments, because their stock was flying off the shelves, and they wanted to make sure they had time to stock up," Runco said.

"So we wanted to make a concerted effort to do that this year, but it also got me thinking about sponsorship opportunities.

If you feel that your business benefits from the tournaments every year, and you want to support the event, please get in touch with us.

Also if you feel that your business does not currently benefit from the events, please get in touch with us and let's see if we can work together to drive some more business your way."

The tournaments are always held on the Martin Luther King and Presidents' Day holiday weekends. For 2016 that will be January 16-17 and February 13-14.