What to know about the Invitational Clash, a pro-am basketball tourney promoting community wellness
From Thursday to Monday, eight men’s teams and four women’s teams from around the world will compete to decide the best pro-am league. But the event serves as much more, says Novar Gadson.
Serving the community is an important mission for Philadelphia native Novar Gadson. After 14 years of playing professional basketball overseas, he is back home to bring his mission to life through the Invitational Clash Movement.
The invitational is a five-day initiative at Drexel from Thursday to Monday in which pro-am men’s and women’s basketball teams from as far away as London will compete in a bracket-style tournament.
The event will also feature other activities, including a youth basketball clinic and mental health workshops.
“The basketball is obviously at the centerpiece of it, but the vision behind it is community wellness, mental health, and youth development,” said Gadson, 36.
Eight men’s teams and four women’s teams will battle it out to decide the best pro-am leagues.
The men’s teams represent Philly’s Brotherly Love League; Drew League from Los Angeles, Rucker Park Streetball from New York; Ball Don’t Stop from Toronto; the Smith League from Cincinnati; Queen City from Charlotte, N.C.; Denard Brothers from Chicago; and Great Britain Select from London.
The four women’s teams represent Brotherly Love, Rucker Park, Queen City, and Swin City League from Dallas.
The face behind the mission
For Gadson, growing up in the city was not easy. His brother, Omari, was a victim of gun violence. He was 18 when he died in 2001.
“My family has still not recovered from my brother’s murder,” he said.
To stay out of trouble, Gadson said, he started playing basketball.
He attended John Bartram High School, where he broke Kobe Bryant’s father Joe’s scoring record. He played at Rider University before playing professionally in Europe, Asia, and South America.
“Basketball is what saved me from homelessness and sexual assault to everything that I was dealing with as a child,” he said. “I feel like it’s in my heart from Christ to serve people.”
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In 2021, he began developing the vision for a Philadelphia-based event that would engage the community with sports and mental health advocacy.
Gadson is the chief executive officer of the Brotherly Love League Pro-Am Foundation, a nonprofit committed to increasing access to mental health resources for underserved communities in the area.
The invitational is an extension of the foundation, he said.
How the tournament works
The competition begins on Friday and follows a bracket-style format with the winning teams advancing to the next round.
The four women’s teams will open play on Saturday.
Tickets are $10 for adults and free for children.
Attendees will have a wide variety of community-focused activities that are designed to engage and connect community members with mental health resources.
The event will also feature food trucks, gaming trucks where children can play in Madden 2K tournaments, hair-cut stations for children, face painting, crowd giveaways, and youth basketball clinics. The boys’ clinic is on Saturday and the girls’ is on Sunday. Participants in the clinics will receive meals and have access to mental health workshops.
More than 30 resource tables will be available throughout the event with panel discussions focused on mental health in partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Philadelphia. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with professionals and sign up for licensed therapy sessions after the tournament.
“People need help,” Gadson said. “I dealt with a lot of PTSD and anxiety from my experiences growing up, so I want to extend help and opportunities for therapy outside the event.”
He noted that increasing access to resources can create change in the city beyond the basketball court.
“If we give a lot of resources and access to kids outside of the basketball event, it will help the city as a whole and the violence go down,” he said.
, Gadson has struggled to revisit the trauma around Omari’s death. He said he has never celebrated his brother’s birthday. But on Monday, Omari’s birthday and the last day of the invitational, Gadson plans to honor his legacy. The foundation will recognize two families who have lost their loved ones to suicide or gun violence.
“The idea for me is to continue to bring light to his name,” Gadson said.
