The Daily Record - HP 6

Hoopsters Hold Court for Sick Children

6/27/04 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom

By Maria Armental, Daily Record

HANOVER -- It all began as a graduation party, an informal gathering of high school seniors who loved basketball and wanted to celebrate their farewell to high school. Since then, however, Heaven's Playground has become a grass-roots organization holding basketball tournaments to benefit children in need.

"My friends and I used to always get together to play basketball in my backyard," said Justin Kiczek, who started the tournament when he graduated from Seton Hall Prep in 1999.

"We set it up just a few days before graduation," he said. "We expected just about 25 people, but had about 80 people show up."

"It went so well that we decided to run it as a charity," added his sister, Alison, who also is involved.

Since then, the tournament has been held every year, though organizers have had to seek larger venues.

On Saturday, Heaven's Playground, which obtained its non-profit status in 2001, held its fifth annual three-on-three amateur basketball tournament at Whippany's Hoop Heaven. The tournament attracted 26 teams of three to four players, ranging in age from 14 to 40, organizers said. Proceeds will benefit Children's Specialized Hospital in Mountainside.

Ultimately, the Scranton's Finest squad from Pennsylvania took the day's championship. Scranton's Finest's Matt Shaffer of Peckville, Pa., was named the tournament's MVP. His teammates were Shilpan Patel of Denville and John Lyons of Dunmore, Pa.

Organizers expected to raise $5,000 during Saturday's event.

On June 12, Heaven's Playground organized a similar tournament for high school players at Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, from which Justin Kiczek graduated and where he now is the assistant dean of men. That tournament attracted 15 teams. Proceeds of that tournament are to benefit Operation Smile and the Griffin-Bridges Program.

Since its inception, Heaven's Playground has raised $7,600 for several children's charities. In 2000, Heaven's Playground raised $1,640 for the Tomorrows Children's Fund, an organization "that helps finance research and treatment initiatives" for children suffering from cancer and other serious blood disorders, according to the organization's Web site. In 2001, it raised $2,000 for the same organization.

Children's Specialized Hospital is the largest pediatric rehabilitation hospital in the country, treating patients with physical and developmental disabilities from birth to age 21, said Doug Olsen, the Children's Specialized Hospital Foundation's assistant director. The hospital, headquartered in New Jersey, has eight locations throughout the state.

"We are a nonprofit hospital," said Michael Armento, a pediatric physiatrist at Children's Specialized, who participated at Saturday's tournament. "So we really rely on the generosity of others."

Those who attended the tournament on Saturday said it was a good way to spend some time with their friends while helping a charity.

"It's wonderful," said Mary Beth Katz of Wharton, who was watching the tournament with her 8-year-old daughter, Isabel. Her husband, Bernie, and 14-year-old son, Adam, were playing in the tournament.

"In my family, this is the best type of fundraiser there could be," Katz said.

"It's a great cause, and what a great way to do it," said Jean Paul Richardson of Bethlehem, who was participating at the tournament.

Liz Feinberg of Randolph, who attended the tournament with her 15-year-old son, Zack, and her husband, Gregg, agreed that basketball was the best way to draw people in.

"That's all my son does, is play basketball," Feinberg said.