{"id":1448,"date":"2026-06-23T22:20:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1448"},"modified":"2026-06-23T22:20:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:20:14","slug":"what-to-know-about-the-invitational-clash-a-pro-am-basketball-tourney-promoting-community-wellness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1448","title":{"rendered":"What to know about the Invitational Clash, a pro-am basketball tourney promoting community wellness"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div><audio><\/audio><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>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. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1446\">Westtown\u2019s Jordyn Palmer, Bonner-Prendie\u2019s Korey Francis named state\u2019s Miss and Mr. basketball<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The invitational is a five-day initiative at Drexel from Thursday to Monday in which pro-am men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball teams from as far away as London will compete in a bracket-style tournament.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The event will also feature other activities, including a youth basketball clinic and mental health workshops.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe basketball is obviously at the centerpiece of it, but the vision behind it is community wellness, mental health, and youth development,\u201d said Gadson, 36. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Eight men\u2019s teams and four women\u2019s teams will battle it out to decide the best pro-am leagues. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The men\u2019s teams represent Philly\u2019s Brotherly Love League; Drew League from Los Angeles, Rucker Park Streetball from New York; Ball Don\u2019t Stop from Toronto; the Smith League from Cincinnati; Queen City from Charlotte, N.C.; Denard Brothers from Chicago; and Great Britain Select from London.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The four women\u2019s teams represent Brotherly Love, Rucker Park, Queen City, and Swin City League from Dallas.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><svg><g><g><g><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>The face behind the mission <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>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. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cMy family has still not recovered from my brother\u2019s murder,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>To stay out of trouble, Gadson said, he started playing basketball. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>He attended John Bartram High School, where he broke Kobe Bryant\u2019s father Joe\u2019s scoring record. He played at Rider University before playing professionally in Europe, Asia, and South America. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cBasketball is what saved me from homelessness and sexual assault to everything that I was dealing with as a child,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s in my heart from Christ to serve people.\u201d <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>In 2021, he began developing the vision for a Philadelphia-based event that would engage the community with sports and mental health advocacy. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1444\">Micah Nori, father of Phillies prospect Dante Nori, hired as Trail Blazers coach<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>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. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The invitational is an extension of the foundation, he said. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>How the tournament works <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The competition begins on Friday and follows a bracket-style format with the winning teams advancing to the next round. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The four women\u2019s teams will open play on Saturday.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Tickets are $10 for adults and free for children. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Attendees will have a wide variety of community-focused activities that are designed to engage and connect community members with mental health resources. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><svg><g><g><g><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>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\u2019 clinic is on Saturday and the girls\u2019 is on Sunday. Participants in the clinics will receive meals and have access to mental health workshops. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>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. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cPeople need help,\u201d Gadson said. \u201cI 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.\u201d <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>He noted that increasing access to resources can create change in the city beyond the basketball court. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><svg><g><g><g><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIf 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,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>, Gadson has struggled to revisit the trauma around Omari\u2019s death. He said he has never celebrated his brother\u2019s birthday. But on Monday, Omari\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1442\">35% of Airbnb and VRBO rentals in Philly don\u2019t have the right licensing, new report finds<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe idea for me is to continue to bring light to his name,\u201d Gadson said. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Thursday to Monday, eight men\u2019s teams and four women\u2019s teams from around the world will compete to decide the best pro-am league. But the event serves as much more, says Novar Gadson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What to know about the Invitational Clash, a pro-am basketball tourney promoting community wellness - Corporate Movers USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=1448\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What to know about the Invitational Clash, a pro-am basketball tourney promoting community wellness - Corporate Movers USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From Thursday to Monday, eight men\u2019s teams and four women\u2019s teams from around the world will compete to decide the best pro-am league. 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