Summer basketball tips off 43rd season with growing numbers

TORRINGTON — When Bill Notaro could not find anywhere for his kid to play summer basketball in 1982, he ended up founding what is known today as the Torrington Summer Basketball League.

The league began its 43rd season in June at Vogel-Wetmore School in Torrington, one of the league’s three venues alongside Forman School in Litchfield and the famous Torrington Armory. Girls and boys from 5th grade through high school compete in highly competitive and entertaining games until August, when a champion for each division is crowned.

The league now has 51 teams — eight more than last year — but still about 20 shy of pre-pandemic levels.

Notaro has rekindled participation, and the league is becoming increasingly competitive. “Last year was probably the strongest the league had been in a while,” said Notaro. “There were so many battles and close games. It was really good.”

The Armory, the league’s longest standing home, boasts a shiny new floor this year. True to tradition, there’s still no air conditioning. When the temperature rises, games are hot and sweaty; players emerge glistening like a glazed donut, and not because Dunkin’ is a league sponsor.

Despite the sweltering heat, kids return each year because it gives them the chance to sharpen their skills for the fall season.

“The high school coaches like the feeder system, they like their younger kids playing,” Notaro explained. “And most of the summer leagues don’t deal with 5th and 6th grades boys and girls and the 7th and 8th grade boys and girls”

Both the Housatonic Valley Regional High School’s boys and girls teams will be returning for another season, looking to improve their performance after finishing in the lower half of the standings last summer.

Games are running nightly at the Armory, Forman or Vogel, with some nights featuring simultaneous action at all three venues. Schedules are available at www.quickscores.com/torringtonct.