The Little Dribblers Basketball Inc., is a non-profit organization dedicated to organizing community youth basketball leagues.
Little Dribblers was founded in 1969 by four dads with a desire to build a youth basketball program that was open to all boys and girls in the community with a desire to learn how to play basketball.
The organization held a press conference Tuesday to inform the community that Levelland will be hosting a tournament, April 3-6, in 2024.
The tournament along with ABC Rodeo will be in town at the same time, which add to Levelland being on the map as a hotspot for events.
The association plans on having 96 teams from all over the state of Texas, and will bring approximately 2,500 to 3,000 guests to Levelland and the area.
The Office of the Governor’s Economic Development and Tourism Department estimated an overnight guest coming to Levelland will spend an average of $127 daily. This event will generate over $1,27 million for Levelland and the South Plains.
The games will be played in the Levelland ISD and South Plains College gyms. Due to the large number of expected attendees, the Levelland Little Dribblers Planning Committee will be working with Lubbock Sports utilizing Lubbock lodging facilities.
The Chamber of Commerce and the Little Dribblers’ Association shared their excitement about hosting the event as they are only considered every three to five years, never guaranteed, for them to host it. President of the tournament Mary Siders has many reasons on why they were selected and what this opportunity can do for Levelland and the South Plains.
“We’re extremely excited, anytime Levelland is chosen to host an event we become a destination,” said Siders. “Therefore people have a purpose and reason to come to our community” Selected to host the 2024 National Little Dribblers’ Boys and Girls Tournament, the 96 teams can travel with up to 15 kids with them also bringing their parents and families to the area.
“We’re guessing 2,500 to 3,000 people coming for this tournament, we’re also hosting the ABC rodeo at the same time. We do know it would’ve been better to host them on two separate weekends, but because of STAR testing and because of Mallet Event Center dates we could not move either one of the events,” explained Siders. “We’ve chosen to host both events at the same time for the economic opportunities that it has to offer, and for Levelland to thrive.”
With events like these coming to Levelland they need roughly 100 volunteers to put in two or four hour shifts a day if they can spare their time for this to work. The organization usually host the tournaments in the cities near the Dallas area because of how much space and time these events require.
“This particular tournament was held in Canton near the Dallas area, and they have tournaments all over the state of Texas. They’ve held them in Canton, Mexia, Fairfield and the majority of the Little Dribblers Representation is in Central or East Texas, so the majority of their membership is located in that part of the state”, explained Mary. “Therefore, they are limited on the amount of times they can come down here to West Texas. It truly is an effort from the girls and boys league.”
Siders also touched on the importance of the kids, parents and everyone involved wanting to have a bid on the tournament to be here. The organization will need local support and partnerships to bring the tournament to the area.
Levelland is home to the organization and they have been here in the city for 54 years and counting. They used to host the tournament every year in Levelland, but as the organization kept growing and people wanted to keep getting involved from other cities around the state they now have a bid to see which city has the honors to host this event.
“We’ve looked back to see how many times we’ve hosted it, Levelland is home to the National Little Dribblers and they have been here for 54 years. We used to host the tournament every year and then as their membership delegations shifted to East Texas, then we were looked at every three to five years” explained Siders. “Last time we hosted the tournament was a combination of all the tournaments, and all the championships for recognition for their 50th year, and that was in 2019. Our goal is that we have them at least every five years, but we have an opportunity to bid and be considered just like the other communities.”
For Levelland, in the month of April it will be a hotspot due to the Little Dribblers Tournament, ABC Rodeo, and 1A-2A Track meets for UIL that are held at the South Plains College. Most of the spring sports for some of the schools in the area end up in Levelland, so it’s going to be a busy time for the city and its locals.