Raritan Bay Summer League Is Not Just Any League, But A Hoops Festival
SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–It has become a summer tradition for GMC Hoops. Late in the month of May, and for a good deal of the summer, the site travels down to South Amboy Middle/High School to see games involving a number of different age groups in the Raritan Bay Summer League.
The league comes fully equipped with many of the personalities that make the Sayreville, South Amboy, South River, and Old Bridge area special. As the referees will remind me when we come down to watch on Tuesday night, there are the world famous Lange Dogs. Then, there is the person that those hot dogs have been named for, Gary Lange, who was a 1,000 point scorer at South Amboy High School from 1968-72.
Tom Reilly, who along with Lange, are the directors of the league, does a ton of work behind the scenes getting the teams and weekly schedules organized. Both have seen the site grow dramatically in the past eight years. Then, there are the scorekeepers such as Mike Zammit Kyle Krzyzanowski, who make watching the games a fun experience with their usual banter. John Zammit also officiates some of the games.
Most importantly though, there are the games. Played mostly four nights a week between 5:00 and 9:00 PM, they begin before Memorial Day, and usually don’t end until the first week of August. It is not your usual summer league, or off-season league by any stretch. To me, it is a celebration. A festival of hoops provided by the community of South Amboy. I’ve always loved coming to see games in this league because the people, who run this league always give great hospitality.
I would still like to have pizza, subs, and wings added to the refreshments menu, but I still look forward to seeing games at Raritan Bay again this summer.