On Thursday, the Katz JCC hosted the 12th annual Sussman 3-on-3 Adult Basketball Tournament. The event raised money for Coaches vs. Cancer and the JCC’s youth basketball programs.
Brothers Andy and Eric Sussman loved nothing more than playing basketball when they were kids.
Growing up during the 1970s, the Sussman brothers could frequently be found at the old Jewish Community Center, located off of Route 70 on the west side of Cherry Hill.
“We used to go to the JCC and play basketball about two to three times per week,” said Adam Rose, a friend of Andy Sussman.
Both Andy and Eric died at a young age following separate battles with cancer. Andy passed away in 1993 at the age of 28, while Eric died in 2000 at the age of 33.
In honor of their memory, the Sussman family and Katz JCC collaborated to create a fundraiser that has had a major impact on the local community.
On Thursday, more than 100 basketball players gathered in the JCC gym for the 12th annual Sussman 3-on-3 Adult Basketball Tournament. The tournament, named in honor of Andy and Eric, is a fundraiser with proceeds supporting the JCC’s youth basketball programs and Coaches vs. Cancer, a nonprofit organization working in partnership with the American Cancer Society.
The basketball tournament has become a very popular event. Originally consisting of just an adult tournament, the fundraiser now consists of two events featuring dozens of teams with players of all ages competing. Bill Christy, the JCC’s sports and recreation director, estimates the JCC has raised about $200,000 since the inception of the tournament in 2006.
The involvement of Andy and Eric’s family and friends has been a big reason the tournament has become a success. The event was born a few years after Eric’s passing, when the JCC spoke with Andy and Eric’s parents, Jerry and Shari Sussman, about creating a fundraising event.
“I cried,” Shari said when she first heard of the idea. “It was beautiful. It’s an honor.”
“It started with about eight to 10 teams of just adults,” Christy said about the first tournament. “I think they had six sponsors and two were just in-kind sponsors.”
As the event grew, Alex Schwarz, Eric Sussman’s son, noticed there was demand for teens to participate in a 3-on-3 tournament. As part of a Bar Mitzvah service, project, he created the Sussman 3-on-3 Teen Basketball Tournament.
“I got involved about nine years ago and I started the first teen tournament,” Schwarz said. “I thought it was only going to be a year. Then we got the highest amount of teams we ever had, we had 25 teams, and it just kept going and going.”
Schwarz credited the JCC’s youth basketball program as being a second home for him as a kid. Eric passed away when Schwarz was just 4 years old.
“It was just me and my mom,” Schwarz said. “I was put through the basketball programs here and the JCC really took care of me. It’s great to give back to an organization that gave so much to me.”
Today, the Sussman 3-on-3 event includes youth and adult tournaments held on separate days. In early April, the JCC hosted the high school and grade school tournaments over the course of a weekend. The adult event then took place last Thursday, with two tournaments. One bracket consisted of teams featuring adults 40 years and older and a second tournament was open to all adults 18 and older.
In some ways, the adult tournament is an annual reunion for family and friends of Andy and Eric. Last week, two of Andy’s childhood friends, Bruce Gelb and Duke Braun, flew up from Florida to play in the tournament. Together with Rose and another friend, Dean Lipson, the four played in memory of their late friend.
“Adam made the phone call and said we had to do it for Suss,” Gelb said. “There’s nothing more fitting than playing basketball together, because that was (Andy’s) passion.”
“It brings the community together,” Shari added. “People will ask ‘Are you going to the 3-on-3?’ Everyone knows what the 3-on-3 is now.”
Christy believes the event continues to be strong because of the involvement of the Sussman family and friends. In recent years, the tournaments have annually raised around $30,000.
“It’s really been a big core of people who are family friends of Eric and Andy or committee members that are really involved,” Christy said.
Last week, three generations of Sussmans were on hand to greet friends and thank the players for their participation. Schwarz said the tournaments have become ingrained in his family. He and many of his relatives plan to continue volunteering to keep the tournaments going strong for many years to come.
“Everyone becomes enthusiastic about it,” Schwarz said. “That’s definitely how it’s been sustained.”
