Hastings Urges Residents to Reach For Sky

 At the lower section of Reynolds Field in Hastings is a basketball court on which Skylar Sonn Tancredi once popped jump shots, delivered pinpoint passes and played hounding defense.

Tancredi, who had a stellar early athletic career, passed away on August 12, 2006 in a tragic accident. He was just 14.  

Hastings will honor the ultra-athletic and fun-loving Tancredi Saturday, as Steve Tuber-- the commissioner of the Hastings Rec League basketball program--and several representatives from the Skylar Tancredi Foundation host the Reach For Sky Basketball Tournament.  

"One of the many things that everybody really loved about Skylar was that on the one hand he was this really terrific, competitive, very high quality athlete. But he was also an incredibly gentle guy with emphasis on good sportsmanship," Tuber said. "We're really going to play these games to really honor that spirit as well."

 The 5-on-5 tournament will include over 140 players divided into 18 teams. Folks of all ages, ranging from 8 years-old to 70, will compete.  

Tuber has honored Tancredi in various games and events since his death. A loyal fan of Hastings basketball, Tuber has two sons--Savvi and Jake--who both played basketball for Hastings High School. And he has been at the forefront of the decision to upgrade the basketball courts and honor Tancredi with the tournament. 

The Skylar Tancredi Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in the athlete's name, has received many generous donations to rebuild and revamp the once-rugged, undersized Reynolds Field basketball court that had featured bent rims and uneven blacktop.

And the Reach For Sky Tournament has generated a great deal of buzz in this tight-knit community.  

The foundation raised well over $10,000 on "Reach For Sky" shirts and bracelets. Since the Hastings school district maintains ownership of Reynolds Field, the $60,000 the Skylar Tancredi Foundation raised has been given as a gift to the district.

 The courts have been thoroughly renovated and are currently ready for play, now featuring a regulation-sized court with additional side courts.    

"As Sky's former basketball coach, I can't think of anything better to commemorate him with," Jim Brennan, a longtime Hastings resident and Tancredi's last basketball coach, said.    

"There will be a lasting memory to his athleticism and the contributions he made to all of the teams he played for him his brief life," Brennan Continued. "I still think of Sky often, and how his life and death had such an impact on our community. I am very lucky to have had the chance to share some time with Sky. He was a special kid. Everyone in Hastings knows that."  

 The tournament is single-elimination and will run through early Sunday, when the semi-finals and the finals of the adult tournament--high school-aged players and older-- will be played.    

"The school district was really terrific about making sure it was done in a great way," Tuber said.  

 "We have 18 teams playing," Tuber said. "The games are going to be competitive but it's not going to be any kind of overly competitive, cutthroat basketball. We want to honor Skylar's spirit in that sense."  

Hastings has a long-standing reputation as a basketball town. The Yellow Jackets captured the 1999 Section I championship and earned back-to-back berths in the Section I Final Four in the early 2000s. Hastings' youth begin playing at young ages on the St. Matthew's CYO circuit and men's open gym basketball at Hastings High School is popular amongst alumni, as the Cochrane Gym has been crowded with players on Wednesday evenings this year.    

In addition to honoring Tancredi in a way that engaged the community that loved him,  receiving a much-needed court upgrade court also washed well with Tuber.  

"It never made sense to me that in the one major park that we have--since we don't have access to the waterfront--there wasn't a good place for people to play pickup ball,"  Tuber said.  

"There are a lot of people who play ball in this town," he continued.  "The idea that there is now an outdoor court is a great start. And who knows? Maybe it will lead to more organized summer leagues and things like that over time. It all has to start with a facility, and now we have that nice facility."