ALWAYS BACK FOR MORE

Since 1990, Spokane’s basketball community has shown a passion and commitment to the game by making Hoopfest an annual tradition. Some in that community have taken things a step further by making their participation in Hoopfest an annual tradition.

These “perennial players” have been taking to the courts in Downtown Spokane every summer since that inaugural event. It’s an exclusive club, with about 30 who have played every year the tournament has happened. (The 2020 and ’21 events were canceled due to Covid.) They’ve seen Hoopfest grow from a small basketball tournament into what we now take for granted, but must have been unthinkable then: The greatest basketball weekend on Earth.

A few perennial players sat down to share some wisdom and memories from their now 30-plus-year Hoopfest careers:

Skip Templeton

Thanks to a group of friends who worked at a Downtown department store, Templeton found out about that first Hoopfest back in 1990 and they convinced him to lace up his sneakers and join them on the court.

“I remember going down there and seeing all these wooden backboards, and I just thought, ‘How are they shutting down the streets? How are they having this tournament in Downtown Spokane? How are they going to pull this off?’”

A former high school player, Templeton was taken with the event. Not only has he been back every year since, but he spent 20 years on the Hoopfest board of directors as his way of giving back to the event he fell in love with.

He recalls one year, back in the early days, when he helped block off streets downtown on Friday evening, though the task ultimately lasted well past midnight. Pushing a loaded wagon around the city center, Templeton estimates he logged 20 miles that night.

“We would literally get done about two in the morning, and then the next morning I had to play. I was younger then, but it was tough,” Templeton says with a laugh.

Those experiences have helped build a strong sense of respect for the volunteers who make Hoopfest happen, like the very same court monitor Templeton had for 13 years straight.

“Same guy. We’d show up every year and he’d know us by name. He’d know almost everybody by name.”

Steve Stockton

It should come as no surprise that there’s a Stockton — yes, those Stocktons — among the crop of perennial players still dribbling and driving their way around Downtown.

While he may be part of a legendary Spokane basketball family, he doesn’t always put family first.

“It’s funny, as the years went on it got more and more important to keep the streak going. I told the boys, ‘don’t even think about getting married on Hoopfest, because I’ll get there but I’ll be in-between games.’”

Fortunately, Hoopfest is a shared priority for that basketball family. Steve’s son, Riley, is the executive director at Hoopfest. The weekend really is a family affair.

Aside from staying in shape and playing throughout the year, Stockton’s advice for anyone looking to put together a multi-decade streak at Hoopfest as he has is simple. Enjoy it.

“You obviously want to do well, but over the years you just… these guys that you’ve played against so many times, it’s just fun getting caught up with them and getting caught up with their families. So it does become way more social. Walking around and seeing people and all the positive energy that’s in the city during that period is just really, really cool.”

Brian Betts

He’s the youngest of these three perennial players and may well be the youngest of them all considering that as an 11-year-old in 1990 he had to play with older kids to compete. (His dad, Rick, was one of the co-founders of Hoopfest.) Still, Brian Betts understands that keeping his streak alive for all these years hasn’t entirely been within his control.

“The key to play every year is just to make the commitment to be around and be available for the event. Obviously that’s one. And then two, I’d say probably just a little bit of luck,” Betts says with a laugh. “Not being hurt and the willingness to keep diving on the cement every year despite, you know, getting older.”

Aside from luck, there’s a sense of gratitude that has kept Betts coming back every single year. He says his favorite memory every year isn’t the event, but the ending when players help peel the tape lines off the court.

“You’re so exhausted, you just barely have energy to pick up the tape, but you still love it because that’s just what the event is.”

A key to making it all the way to picking up the tape? Hydration.

“I just drink as much water as possible in between games, even if it doesn’t seem like I need to.”

He learned that lesson while taking part in an ultra-marathon. Though some may argue that three decades of Hoopfest is an even more impressive feat.

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