Sweep the Streets' 15th edition promises to be entertaining
George Rodriguez says that the annual Sweep the Streets playground basketball tournament that has become such an integral part of Lebanon County summers no longer belongs to him.
Believe it or not, he's more than fine with that. Still the driving force behind the popular event, set for its 15th edition this Saturday and Sunday at Coleman Park, Rodriguez, who co-founded the event with close friends and fellow Lebanon High grads Robert Cleapor and Angel Cruz, feels that Sweep the Streets has grown and evolved to the point that it now belongs to the community, not just him and his co-founders.
"It's way past the point where it's about me or my emotions anymore," Rodriguez said. "It's more embedded in the community and it's about not letting the community down. From the young kids to the older adults, everytime I see them on the street or at the store or the gas station, they're like, 'Hey, I can't wait for the tournament. When's the tournament?'
"People are very excited about it. I think even if one year I decided I didn't want to do it, they wouldn't let me."
Indeed, Rodriguez is constantly focused on making the tournament bigger and better, hence the site change to Coleman Park last year after the first 13 years of holding the event at Southeast Playground in downtown Lebanon.
After some initial opposition from a few community members regarding the move, support for the switch grew and Coleman Park is now firmly entrenched as the home of Sweep the Streets.
"I loved it, it was very smooth," Rodriguez said of last year's event at Coleman. "It was convenient, there was plenty of parking, no complaining about noise or anything like that.
"There were people that felt it wouldn't work at Coleman's or Southeast was a better site. But bigger and better things come and you move onto things. I respected people's opinion, and the majority was okay with it. The small amount that felt that we should have stayed, after last year, they agreed with us. Everything went 1,000-percent smoother."
One thing everyone can agree on is that the competition and quality of play is always top-notch, whether it comes from Lebanon County or teams from other states along the East Coast.
This year, Rodriguez says, will be no exception.
"I'm super stoked," he said. "It came around fast, it came extremely fast this year. I don't know where time has gone. But I'm excited. The competition - I feel like I say this every year - is the greatest. But this year, there's no weak links, there's no weak teams. It's gonna be a battle out there, so I'm excited. And there will be food out there and music again. We're ready to go."
The 16-team field will tip off the first game at 11 a.m., with the annual slam dunk contest set for 2 p.m. Saturday. The tourney concludes Sunday with the championship game sometime mid or late afternoon.
Admission, as always, is free. The only thing you're required to bring is your love of Lebanon and playground hoops.
This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Sweep the Streets ready for 15th edition of playground hoops shindig in Lebanon
