Galesburg Summer League- Downstate Tradition

This is the 38th year for the Galesburg Summer League. We started the girls basketball league in the summer of 1987, and took one summer off for COVID. 

Previous to GSL, the Carver Center had run a summer league for men’s and women’s teams. Usually there were 3 Galesburg teams and a couple area teams who entered the Carver league. 

We started to take GHS varsity teams up to Maine West to play in their weekend tourneys. I had become friends with the Maine West coach, Derril Kipp- we were both on the All-State board. At the time, Maine West had a league during the week, and ran a couple one day weekend tourneys. We would go up and play, and usually lose badly. It was very obvious the Chicago area teams were very much ahead of us in the summers. They were playing a lot more basketball. 

It took a couple summers, but I got approval to run a league at GHS. The first year, we just ran a one day tourney with only 6 total teams. We got it rolling the following year with games on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

Summer basketball was different back in the 1990’s- our league started up in early June and ran thru the third week of July- it was usually a total of 7 weeks. 

During the week, we usually had about 30 FS and Varsity teams- we were the only league in the area. We hosted weekend tourney in June and another in the middle of July. 

Our tourneys were huge because nobody was doing this at the time. At our peak in the late ‘90’s, we would have about 50 FS and Varsity teams enter. We had teams from all over- Maine West, Hononegah, DeKalb, Salem, Taylorville, Champaign Centennial, Clinton Ia, Ottawa, LaSalle-Peru, and Springfield. In addition, everyone in the area that was serious about basketball came- Moline, Rock Island, Limestone, Alleman, Sterling, Morton, Metamora, Peoria, and others. 

In downstate Illinois, you came to Galesburg if you were serious about girls basketball. In the summer of 1996, Galesburg with Molly Watson played Taylorville with Allison Curtain in July in front of probably 500 people. The next winter the two teams met in the State semi-finals with both teams undefeated. 

To accommodate the league and tourneys before Kimbrough Field House was built, sometimes we played two games in Thiel, two in Wicall, one at Churchill, one at Lombard, and one at Hawthorne. We had 7 gyms going on during the weekend tourneys from 8:00am to 10:00pm. 

In the 1990’s and early 2000’s with players and parents eating meals in Galesburg and in many cases staying overnight, it was estimated that each summer the GSL brought in $30,000-40,000 of business to the community. 

We estimate in the three decades the league has run, that close to 10,000 girls basketball players have played in the GSL. And close to 1,500 Galesburg girls have played in the GSL. 

A unique thing about our league was that while we got licensed refs for certain courts and certain level of games, we purposely tried to get as many college age men and women to ref. This provided them with a great summer job, and it also got a few to go into officiating. 

Today the league runs just in the month of June, and usually can be taken care of with just the courts at GHS being used. There is still a very good turnout that allow Galesburg girls from 7th thru 12th grade an opportunity to play with HS coaches, JH coaches, and college players acting as coaches. 

Because of the Galesburg Summer League, more Galesburg girls get an opportunity to play basketball in the summer. There are many schools where only the top 8-10 players get to play in any league. GSL has been a back bone of the Streaks Basketball Program. Not only has the GSL allowed lots of girls to play and compete, it has been a lot of fun for our players. 

If you get a chance, stop out on a Tuesday or Thursday night and watch JH thru Varsity players are they are developing their skillls. 

And don’t forget- pick up a Galesburg Summer League t-shirt!! The design has remained the same for decades while the color of the shirts change.