Anthony Salmon 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament

UR Medical and High School Students Unite to Create
3-on-3 Basketball Tournament to Raise Funds for Anthony Salmon

Students from all walks of life will be joining together this April in hopes of raising $15,000 for Anthony Salmon, the Wilson Magnet High School student paralyzed from the neck down while making a routine tackle during a football game in September 2003. Students at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Wilson Magnet High School and McQuaid Jesuit High School are organizing the First Annual Anthony J. Salmon 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, to be held Saturday, April 17. All proceeds will benefit the Anthony J. Salmon Fund to assist with his costly rehabilitation.

Three age groups (12-14, 15-17 and 18 and older), each with open and female categories, will be established for team entries. Each of these six divisions will compete in pool play leading to a championship bracket, guaranteeing each team at least three games. The games will be played at various venues including the University of Rochester, Wilson Magnet High School and James Madison School of Excellence, with the title games held at the University of Rochester Palestra. Registration fee is $75 per team, and the registration deadline is March 19, with participation limited to the first 200 teams.

Salmon is currently living at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, one of the nation’s leading facilities for spinal cord rehabilitation. As a result of Salmon’s hard work and perseverance, he continues to make meaningful progress, and is now able to move his head from side to side, speak clearly and sit upright. He is expected to return to Rochester by the end of March, and plans to be at the tournament.

“While these improvements are significant, Anthony’s goal of walking again will require continued hard work and support,” Bryce Gillespie, the lead student organizer of the tournament, said. “That is the purpose of this event: to encourage community involvement and gather much needed financial support for Anthony to achieve his goals of recovery.”