84 Teams Entered In The Big JJMT

Year 17 is shaping up like a real diaper dandy for hundreds of young players at this weekend's Jeff Jurgens Memorial Basketball Tournament.

The 84 teams, including nine from Regina, Sask., exceed last year's total of about 80 and will compete at five Glasgow venues. With eight members per team, that's 672 players and maybe another 1,500 folks and volunteers here for a little roundball in G-Town.

“I'd like to see somebody do an economic impact study on the tournament and what it brings in to our community,” organizer Tom Schmitt told The Courier. “We probably have a Glasgow team in every bracket, but we've got a lot of out-of-towners.”

No doubt. Check out this list of communities that teams will represent during the big JJMT. Bainville. Culbertson. Flaxville. Frazer. Harlem. Havre. Hinsdale. Malta. Nashua. Plentywood. Regina. Saco. Scobey. Whitewater. Wolf Point.

In all, 133 youth games will unfold Friday through Sunday at GHS, East Side School, St. Raphael's, Glasgow Evangelical Church and Glasgow Civic Center. Team ages range from the fourth grade to high school.

It's quite the undertaking, requiring 295 game officials and 600 to 700 volunteer hours for everything from scorekeepers to timers to ticket sales.

“It's just a labor of love for me,” says Schmitt, the organizer since 2003. “I like the scholarship aspect of it. Five thousand dollars from the tournament proceeds goes to scholarships for high school kids. It's also a good fundraiser for the Scottie Boosters, and I've been a basketball guy all my life.”

Of course, there's also the JJMT's inspiration and namesake.

Jeff Jurgens was a seventh-grader when he died 18 years ago. He was active in youth sports and especially enjoyed youth basketball tournaments. His mother, Leah Arneson, founded the tourney as a way to remember him.

All of the JJMT brackets appear on pages 2B and 3B. Team rosters were not yet available.