Pennsbury coach aims to help Harvey victims
Pennsbury girls' basketball coach Frank Sciolla will hold 3-on-3 basketball tournament to benefit victims of Hurricane Harvey
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Safe, sound, and dry, Frank Sciolla watched his son play fourth-grade football this past week with one eye on the field and the other glued to powerful images of the devastation wrought upon Houston by Hurricane Harvey.
With school set to start this week, the Pennsbury girls' basketball coach was moved by video of a man trudging through floodwaters with his son.
"I was sitting there looking at Twitter," he said, "and I was just thinking about those kids [in Houston]. School is about to start [here] and I was thinking, 'What could we do?"
So Sciolla organized Hoops for Harvey, a three-on-three basketball tournament, with the proceeds going to relief efforts for those affected by Harvey.
The event will take place from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday at the William Penn and Charles Boehm middle schools.
The tournament is open to boys' and girls' teams of three or four players from sixth through 12th grades. The cost to enter is $50 per team and prizes will be awarded to winners. A free-throw contest will also be held ($5 per entry), along with a raffle. Donations of any kind are also welcome, Sciolla said.
Sciolla, an English teacher who coached boys' basketball at Pennsbury (1995 to 2010) and Conwell-Egan (2014 to 2016), hopes the event can provide a boost amid negative circumstances.
"I think this is a chance to really try to rally," he said. "This is the best of us."
He added: "There are so many good people that are willing to help out."
One of those people is former Pennsbury star Lavoy Allen (2007), who after playing at Temple also played in the NBA, most recently for the Indiana Pacers.
Sciolla, who coached Allen at Pennsbury, said his former player plans to attend the tournament.
"I didn't have a grand plan," Sciolla said. "I said let's do something in a week. I know it's not going to be tremendous. We might not set records with money, but we're definitely pumping it up the next week throughout our student body, and we're such a big school that maybe we can get [the students] to do some [fund-raising] on their own."
Those interested in donating or registering for the event are urged to email Sciolla at fsciolla@pennsburysd.org.