On Jan. 26, the professional basketball team, Harlem Wizards, will play at Saint Dominic High School, 110 Anstice St. in Oyster Bay. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the game will start at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $30.
“We did a Harlem Wizards event about seven years ago,” explained Lori Mascia, the associate director of special events at Saint Dominic. “We wanted to bring it back to Saint Dom’s… It’s actually faculty, alumni, [students] and parents playing in the game.”
Mascia added that Saint Dominic is not letting members of the varsity basketball team play in the game because they’re in the middle of a season.
“They say ‘oh, I can beat the Harlem Wizards’ and they’ll try to do something crazy and then get hurt,” Mascia said.
The Harlem Wizards game, Mascia said, is a fun-filled event. She added that the event also helps raise money for The Church of Saint Dominic, Saint Dominic Elementary and Middle School, and Saint Dominic High School.
“Our varsity coach is the coach of the team, and he’ll try to set up some plays, but it’s basically being out there having some fun,” Mascia said. “It definitely brings the community together and it’s a fun night; it’s on a Friday night.”
The Harlem Wizards was founded by Howie Davis in 1962. According to the Harlem Wizards website, Davis had a passion for merging basketball and entertainment. His son, Todd Davis, went onto become CEO of the Harlem Wizards.
“I remember back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the Wizards used to go to Saint Dominic every year,” said Davis, the current CEO.
Davis explained that the Harlem Globetrotters was the first team to merge basketball and entertainment.
“One of the players had branched out, who was a Globetrotter star, Goose Tatum, and he knew my father did promoting and putting events together, so he reached out to him to do a series of events in Long Island, Queens, New York City” Davis explained. “It went really well and then my father’s friends happened to be athletic directors from many of these schools because before he did the Harlem Wizards, he managed football teams and traveled around the country… So he just called them and said ‘are you looking to raise some funds? I got a program for you.’ It worked, and then it evolved from there to creating his own team because it was so successful.”
Since then the Harlem Wizards have toured nearly every state and many countries. The most memorable game in Harlem Wizard’s history was in Newtown, Conn. in 2013 after the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
“It illuminated the best of what the Wizard players can do,” the website stated. “They brought joy for a few hours in a community that faced an unimaginable tragedy.”
The Wizards also played in Baltimore, Md. during the 2015 protests and at the Attica Prison in the 1970s against the inmates, not too long after the Attica riot.
The Harlem Wizards’ primary focus is fundraising events for non-profits and school organizations.
“There’s more participation in a Wizard’s show for kids on the court than any basketball show, or basketball event in the world,” Davis said.
James Tyndal, who goes by Road Runner, a member of the Harlem Wizard’s Road Runner unit, has been with the team for 14 seasons.
“Besides the obvious of having fun and getting the opportunity to entertain families across the world, I had the opportunity to learn a lot of things, life lessons, and become a manager,” Tyndal said.
Tyndal has been playing basketball since he was four years old. He attended Monsignor Scanlan High School in the Bronx and Buffalo State University. After graduating, he began playing for the Harlem Wizards.
“The best part is the smiles,” Tyndal said. “Whatever anyone has gone through during the day or that week, we have the opportunity to bring some joy into their life.”
Currently, Davis explained, the Harlem Wizards has been running a new program called the WizFit Challenge.
The WizFit Challenge is a two-week fitness fundraiser with a motivating P.E. curriculum. Fun prizes motivate children to meet donation levels and the program culminates with two Harlem Wizard players celebrating with the children in-person.
“We found a way to take the Wizards’ players’ passion for fitness and dedication for fitness and package it as a fun program that gets the kids excited about fitness,” Davis said.
To purchase tickets for the game at Saint Dominic, visit harlemwizards.com/schedule-tickets/.
