Gus Macker Hitting “Cool City”

The Original Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament was started in 1974 by Scott McNeal

(alias Gus Macker) on his parents’ driveway basketball court in Lowell, Michigan. It started with 18 friends playing competitively for $18.

The tournament continued to grow and in 1987 moved from Lowell to Belding and took to the road because of a tremendous demand from communities outside of the home base. The “Gus Macker All- World Tour” was greeted with enthusiasm and spectacular news coverage in every area. Over 10,400 players participated in five cities in that first year. Since 1987, the Macker Tournaments has expanded, holding both indoor and outdoor tournament in over 75 cities and with over 200,000 players and 1.7 million spectators enjoying 3-on-3 competition and family fun each year.

This year Gus Macker has 43 tournaments set up around the nation and 2015 will be the first year that the Gus Macker event is hosted in our area, downtown Linden. The Linden Athletic department saw the opportunity to host this fantastic charity driven community event.  After putting in the hard work to find the financial and man-power commitments they went for it. 

The Fenton Regional Chamber of Commerce will present the event and help the Linden Schools Athletic and Booster organizations raise funds to support their initiatives as well as help promote economic growth in this great city.

The action will take place at Hyatt Elementary School, 325 Stan Eaton Drive. The cafeteria will host registration, and a food court will be set up in the school’s main courtyard. Places to eat and use the restroom will be available indoors, too. 

This event will feature not only approximately 10 courts of pure driveway style 3-on-3 basketball. The Macker Tournament is designed so that anyone can play: male or female, young and old, short and tall, the most experienced or no experience at all.

The fun doesn’t stop with the basketball, this is a huge family friendly event in Linden.  It’s a great opportunity to bring a large number of people to the “Cool” City of Linden.  There will be a Food Court and two offsite kids zone locations with activities and bounce houses, mini golf, etc. all within walking distance of the event.  The Grow Linden group will also be doing a couple of additional events on Friday and Saturday evening.  

With so many successful events under their belt, the Fenton Chamber is sure to put on a great show. Gus Macker Management anticipates for a community of our size to have 150 (4 man) teams participate in the inaugural event. 

Want to bring your game to the court?

Teams of 3 can get in the game for a cool $140.  For information or to register check out

www.macker.com/local/linden-mi/

 Want to get involved?

This endeavor will require a large number of volunteers, as well as the financial commitment from the sponsors, so if you would like to be involved please contact the Chamber office at 810-629-5447 or email info@fentonchamber.com.