The event will be hosted by Rick Gifford, a local philanthropist and a volunteer with League Legends. Teams of four to eight players are welcome to join at a cost of $5 per person to be paid at the door. Prizes and rules are to be determined.

Silent Auction items thus far include: New England Aquarium tickets, passes to Northampton Country Club, a basket from the Basketball Hall of Fame, an Ode Boutique gift basket, zip lining and whitewater rafting with Zoar Outdoor, a day at Look Park.

The Deuce is located at 50 Conz St.

League Legends was initially organized in 2008 by Northampton High School graduates Sam Caruso, Michael O’Brien and Tim Kane in honor of their late classmates Holman and Adams who passed away tragically after high school.

Money raised through the trivia night and auction will fund memorial scholarships as well as a campaign to construct two adjacent and lighted memorial basketball courts at an undetermined location in Northampton. O’Brien said that the nonprofit aims to raise $100,000 over the course of the next several years for the construction.

League Legends is a federal tax exempt organization under tax code 501(c)(3).

For more information or to donate, visit www.areyoualegend.org or email leaguelegendsinc@gmail.com.

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NORTHAMPTON—League Legends, a volunteer organization founded by graduates of Northampton High School to honor their late classmates David Holman and Miles Adams, will host an outdoor film screening of the 1990s classic film “Space Jam” on Saturday, July 23 at 8:30 p.m.

The screening will take place at the Robert K. Finn Ryan Road Elementary School, following the ninth annual Midsummer Classic Tournament from 1 to 8 p.m., which League Legends also presents.

“We’re very excited to have a new feature to add on to our already popular tournament,” said League Legends Organizer Michael O’Brien of the screening. “We’re hoping it allows us to gather a good crowd in the evening so that we can offer people a fun night out while also raising money for a great cause.”

As a part of the fundraiser, there will be food and drinks for sale all day and night, including hot dogs and hamburgers donated by Scotti’s, popcorn donated by Florence Hardware, drinks donated by Pepsi and ice cream offered by Herrell’s. The screening event is co-sponsored by NCTV Northampton community television, 94.3 FM and Citizen’s Bank.

All are welcome to arrive early to watch the tournament and use the school’s playground equipment. Starting at 7 p.m., parking will be $10 per car. Both the movie night and the tournament will be held at Ryan Road Elementary School but may be moved to Northampton High School, depending on the weather. For event and weather updates, visit the organization’s Facebook page.

League Legends was initially organized by Northampton High School graduates Sam Caruso and Tim Kane in honor of their late classmates Holman and Adams. The tournament was created as a way to remember their basketball-loving friends and raise money for scholarship funds that had been started by their families.

Since it raised $200 at the first tournament in 2008, the Midsummer Classic has only grown, raising thousands and attracting professional players such as Ellis Cooper of England’s Manchester Magic, who played in 2015. It has also attracted more participants each year, growing from an original six teams to 16 teams.

This year, money raised through the tournament and film showing will fund the scholarships as well as a campaign to construct two adjacent and lighted community basketball courts at an undetermined location in Northampton, according to O’Brien.

O’Brien said that the nonprofit aims to raise $100,000 over the course of the next several years for the construction. He added that League Legends wants to create a space where children and teens can enjoy playing basketball both day and night.

The basketball tournament will run from 1 to 8 p.m., with a total of 16 teams. Teams can sign up at www.areyoualegend.org, and preference will be given to teams with six or more Northampton High School students and teams that participated last year. Each team will have six to nine players.

All ages and genders are invited to participate, and each player will receive a sports drink and five tickets in the event’s raffle. The cost is $135 per team. Teams are guaranteed to play at least four games, and the playoff will be single-elimination. The winning team will receive commemorative t-shirts and a $50 gift certificate to Papa Gino’s.

Rick Gifford will act as the event’s emcee, with Tom Messinger, a basketball coach at the Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, and a friend of Holman’s, acting as referee.

League Legends was recently confirmed as a federal tax exempt organization under tax code 501(c)(3).

For more information or to donate, visit www.areyoualegend.org or contact O’Brien at leaguelegendsinc@gmail.com.

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Michael O’Brien, president of the nonprofit and a member of the NHS class of 2007, said the goal is to raise the funds over the next several years through donations as well as a variety of events, including the already existing annual basketball tournament, called the League Legends Midsummer Classic.

This year’s tournament will be held July 23 at Robert K. Finn Ryan Road Elementary School from 1 to 8 p.m., with an outdoor screening of “Space Jam” to follow at 8:30 p.m. Other fundraising events this year include a golf tournament on Oct. 1 at the Northampton Country Club and a trivia night and silent auction slated for Nov. 26 at The World War II Club.

O’Brien said League Legends aims to create a space where children and teens can enjoy playing basketball day and night, and he intends for the courts to be lighted to facilitate nighttime play. League Legends is currently working with the Northampton Recreation Department to locate a site for the courts.

The proposed courts will also be used for both summer adult basketball leagues as well as youth basketball clinics, at an affordable cost, O’Brien said. Long-term, the courts may also host such events as out-of-season invitational tournaments or other community events.

“The venue could even be used as an outdoor skating rink in the winters,” O’Brien said, adding, “We’re not going to build it and simply hope people come. We’re going to be organizing a lot of its use.”

As of this week, the organization had roughly $8,000 set aside for the courts, which will be developed in stages, O’Brien said.

Sam Caruso, a 2007 NHS graduate and a member of the League Legends Board of Directors with O’Brien, said building basketball courts in Northampton would allow the friends and family of Holman and Adams to have something physical to memorialize them.

“The courts would also be a source of enjoyment for hundreds, maybe even thousands of people who love basketball as much as David and Miles once did,” he said.

League Legends has its roots in a pick-up basketball league, then called The League, that Holman started by passing around a roster in an audio-visual class in 2006. Adams was also a member of that original league.

“David was the original commissioner who passed around the sign-up sheet and got the league going,” O’Brien said. “From there, we started having at least several weeknight pick-up basketball games at Ryan Road elementary. We would even do trades and suspensions within the teams, and hold meetings in AV class.”

The League returned and attracted even more attention, both from players and spectators, in 2007. That summer, Holman was killed in a car accident. Just a few months later, in December, Adams was also involved in a traffic fatality.

“Anyone dying at that age is such a tragedy,” O’Brien said. “For a lot of us, the organizers and kids around the high school, that was our first experience with death, and it was really a shock.”

As a way of honoring their classmates, Caruso and fellow league participant Tim Kane organized the nonprofit in 2008, named it League Legends and the organization held its first midsummer classic at Ryan Road.

The tournament began with six teams and raised $200 in its first year. It has expanded to attract 16 teams, and it now traditionally raises roughly $10,000 per year. It also attracts professional players, such as NHS alum Ellis Cooper of England’s Manchester Magic, who played in 2015.

“Miles and David’s families both started scholarship funds soon after they passed, and it was actually my mom who suggested doing a basketball tournament at Ryan Road Elementary to raise money for their scholarship funds and to remember our friends,” Caruso said, noting that the tournament helps fund the scholarship.

Going forward, the tournament will also help fund the goal to build the basketball courts.

Caruso remembers Holman and Adams first and foremost for their incredible sense of humor.

“They were both so funny, although in different ways,” he said. “Miles was always goofing around. It was as if he lived to make his friends smile. And David was a real people person. He would always be bringing people together. Sometimes it seemed like he was friends with almost everyone.”

This year’s July 23 Movie Night will be held in partnership with Northampton Community Television and the League Legends board, members of which are: O’Brien, Caruso, Kane, Elias NeJame and Nicole Sawula.

To register for the tournament, contact O’Brien at 413-210-8823 or leaguelegendsinc@gmail.com. Cost of the film screening is $10 per car.

League Legends has applied for 501C3 status so that donations to it can be tax deductible; it currently holds tax-exempt status in Massachusetts. The organization has a multi-tiered donation plan. For details, or to donate, visit the League Legends website at www.areyoualegend.org, or mail contributions to 70 Acrebrook Drive in Florence.

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