City 6 basketball tournament to be held at St. Joe’s
St. Joe’s will host the City 6 basketball tournament on March 24 at Hagan Arena.
City 6 tournaments function as playoffs for intramural teams at six schools in the Philadelphia area, including Temple University, Drexel University, Villanova University, the University of Pennsylvania, La Salle University and St. Joe’s.
The organization sponsors four tournaments each year in flag football, volleyball, basketball and softball. The winners of each school’s intramural program-one each from men’s, women’s and co-ed leagues-are invited to complete in the City 6 tournaments.
St. Joe’s does not have a women’s league this year, according to Conor Lesch, assistant director of Campus Recreation.
The upcoming basketball event consists of teams made up of five players each. There are two 20-minute halves, with the clock moving constantly except in the last two minutes of the second half when play stoppage takes effect.
There are a total of 32 Mens teams in intramural currently. The team leading is 4-1, called Triple B’s. Ryan Alexander ‘21 is on the leading team.
“The reason for our recent success is that we have good group of guys that understand each other’s tendencies,” Alexander said. “The league is a good experience in that it is casual but we are competitive at the same time.
Steve Young from Temple University and Mike Diorka from St. Joe’s started the City 6 organization in 1986. The idea began in a bar, with them writing the concept on a napkin.
“The history of City 6 is quite remarkable,” said Jay Gallagher, City 6 coordinator and associate director of programs at Temple. “I am not sure if then they thought 30 plus years later it would still be growing.”
Gallagher added that behind the scenes, it takes a lot of staff members from the various schools to keep City 6 tournaments running smoothly.
“Everyone is chipping in from officiating, scorekeeping, cleaning up the trash or anything that is needed,” Gallagher said. “That is something that you probably will not find elsewhere.”
Angela Nagle, assistant director of club sports at St. Joe’s, played in the City 6 softball tournament at Temple when she was an undergraduate there.
“It is playing for something bigger than yourself,” Nagle said.
St. Joe’s has not won a City 6 championship since 2014 in softball. Lesch said it is hard for the university to compete with the diversity of talent of public college has like Temple.
Kenny Evely ’18 played flag football his junior and senior year.
“When I stepped onto the field both years, I was proud knowing I got to represent my school at this event,” Evely said. “If I had the chance to go to City 6 all four years I was at St. Joe’s, I would have done it in an instant.”
