Michael DeMaria, front and center, founded The League NYC as an affordable alternative to pricier basketball leagues so adult athletes like him and his pals, from left, Manny Alvarez, Sunni Jasavic, and Amel Nikezic can continue to compete after they age out of youth leagues.
BY COLIN MIXSON
A local athlete scored a three-pointer in his effort to launch an adult basketball league in Lower Manhattan on Monday, after five teams worth of new members registered in the first 24 hours since the website went live.
The new endeavor, called The League NYC, aims to fill a gap in Downtown’s recreational sports scene by providing an affordable venue for local athletes to compete on a proper court after they turn 18.
“Once you turn 18, all the leagues were unavailable to us,” said 19-year-old Tribeca native Michael DeMaria. “It’s like once you turn 18, you’re not allowed to play anymore, so that’s why we decided to come up with the idea.”
The new league is also a bit cheaper than Battery Park City’s Asphalt Green adult basketball league — hitherto Lower Manhattan’s only league where ballers of a certain age could compete.
Asphalt Green’s league accommodates a nine-game season for teams of between 5 and 12 players for $1,600 per squad. The League NYC will offer a 12-game season for teams of between five and 10 players for only $1,300-per squad.
The fee pays for 10 jerseys, a portable score board, referees, and the cost of using the league’s three go-to courts, which include the hardwood at Stuyvesant Community Center, Chelsea Piers, and Basketball City.
In addition, The League NYC is developing an app that displays statistics for each player, whose profiles will be updated regularly after every game.
DeMaria, who played baseball with the Stuyvesant Community Center’s youth league before aging out, has taken issue with Asphalt Green’s high fees before.
Following the opening of the ritzy Battery Park City athletic center in early 2013, the Battery Park City Authority made moves to shutter the beloved Stuyvesant Community Center, saying the newer facility eliminated the need for the aging sports center.
After that proposal went public, a 16-year-old DeMaria appeared before Community Board 1 in opposition to the BPCA’s anti-Stuyvesant agenda, saying the authority was leaving less wealthy Downtowners in the lurch by shuttering the affordable community center, and leaving the more expensive Asphalt Green as local athletes’ only alternative.
“Speaking for the middle and lower classes, are we not a part of this community?” DeMaria asked CB1 at the time.
The whippersnapper then went on to say that the Stuyvesant center was “about everyone, regardless of how much money they make. Asphalt Green is the complete opposite.”
These days, DeMaria says he doesn’t have a problem with Asphalt Green — but, that being said, his heart remains with the Stuyvesant Community Center.
“I don’t have a bone to pick with Asphalt Green. I think they run a great service, but it should be more affordable, especially coming into the neighborhood as a new place,” he said. “Tribeca is a community and Asphalt Green has more of a commercial feel. At Stuyvesant, everyone knows each other. It’s great.”
DeMaria and his three partners don’t expect to make a killing with The League NYC, and say their low price point shows they’re more interested in breaking even that getting rich. But that doesn’t mean the Price University business major expects to walk away empty-handed.
“We’re not really trying to make a buck, but it does looks good on a resume,” said DeMaria.
If everything works out, The League NYC will be hosting its first game at the beginning of June. Anyone looking to register can head to the website www.theleaguenyc.com for more information.
