Find out why Emily Brooks is coming back to volunteer at Hoopfest for the 21st year.
“I feel like I was born into [Hoopfest],” said current Court Marshal, Emily Brooks. Brooks has been unofficially volunteering with Spokane Hoopfest for the past 20 years, but she got her start as a toddler when she would help to deconstruct the courts.
“As a young kid, my father (Brad Plumb) was a Marshall and I quickly learned I loved to help. He would give me jobs here and there until I was old enough to volunteer consistently,” said Brooks.
Once old enough, she officially started scorekeeping and helped to prepare and deconstruct the courts outside of gameplay. Brooks referred to herself as “an all-around minion for whatever was needed.”
Brooks briefly moved away and returned to Hoopfest in 2010 as a Court Monitor under her father. When Plumb took a Hoopfest hiatus, Brooks moved to Court Marshall Milt Rowland’s team, who became like a second father.
Brooks is now court marshal herself thanks to her two Court Marshall fathers and they experience they provided. Continuing the familial trend, Brooks’ brother court-monitored for her before moving to become a court marshal as well.
This marks Brooks’ 10th year as a Hoopfest volunteer in the court monitoring and marshaling sector.
Her favorite story
There were a few NFL players on her court and the scorekeeper wanted their signature but was too shy to ask. Brooks escorted the scorekeeper to the NFL players and they signed her shirt and took a few photos with her. Brooks said they even thanked her for volunteering!
“This little act of kindness is not something that stands out so much as something that enforces the spirit of Hoopfest, how on these streets, for these two days, everyone is family, everyone is community, and everyone actually looks out for each other no matter who those people are. These four players were not anything more than community members on those two days, and that is what the whole city becomes for these two days.”
Hoopfest is a huge family
The way that the city comes together is something that Brooks looks forward to every year.
“I feel like Hoopfest is all a huge family that gets to have a family reunion once a year. We get to support each other, lift each other up, and throw our little city into the national spotlight,” said Brooks. “Every year I get to watch teams play, have fun, respect opponents, and treat each other like neighbors.”
The community couldn’t come together if it wasn’t for Hoopfest volunteers like Emily Brooks. We at Hoopfest would like to thank Emily and her family for the commitment to Hoopfest over the years!
About Hoopfest
Spokane Hoopfest is the largest 3on3 outdoor basketball tournament on Earth. That means over 6,000 teams, 3,000 volunteers, 225,000 fans and 450 courts spanning 45 city blocks! Beyond basketball, Hoopfest is an outdoor basketball festival with shopping, food and interactive entertainment. We are so excited for you to join us and be a part of the Best Basketball Weekend on Earth!
In Case you Missed It
- Check out the wallpapers from April 2020.
- Sign up to be a Court Monitor and you can win awesome prizes from The Davenport Hotels, Northern Quest Casino, Huppins, or BECU.
