It seems like yesterday I was 12 years old and competing in 3-on-3 tournaments in my busy sports centered lifestyle. One such tournament was the Rathdrum Days Street Hoops. It didn't have the same mystique and draw as Hoopfest, but it had something different. The Rathdrum Days tournament, at least to me, was about playing with and against old and new friends.

In a tournament where you got to play against many of the kids you went to school with or knew from other schools thanks to little league baseball and parks and rec basketball leagues, this tournament pulled in many recognizable faces from Post Falls, Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene.

Although my competitive basketball days were short, the days I cherished most were the ones shared with friends, and playing against friends. With Rathdrum Days, you could see yourself pitted up against a few kids you play against on the street during lunch break.

This 3-on-3 provides us all with something that the lunch breaks couldn't when we play against friends. At the tournament if you won or lost, you heard about it for a long time. There is nothing better than bragging rights, and when it comes to 3-on-3, bragging rights last for a good long while. Unlike the 10 minutes you and your buddies were able to play a quick game of basketball after you finished lunch, where bragging rights lasted less than a day.

Though, the 3-on-3 tournament is not all that Rathdrum Days offers. What I remember most were the many delicious food and thirst quenching vendors. After a full day of running, jumping, and shooting, a kid grows quite the appetite. Also, the satisfaction of the incredible air conditioning system of Super 1. Since the tournament is played on the parking lot of Super 1, the air conditioned haven is only a stone's throw away. The tournament this year has a change of venue, the east side parking lot of Lakeland High School. Nonetheless, the cool confines of Super 1 is still only a minute's walk from the court where you have just shamed your opponents.

Over the years a lot has changed, and all for the better, since so many new and exciting events have been added to the two day celebration of our great town. Rathdrum Days has its own classic cars show, as well as many people's favorites, the weiner dog races. The Puyallup fair may have its pig races, but Rathdrum Days has its weiner dogs.

I have lived in Rathdrum nearly all my life, and I have seen many things change in my great hometown. Some for the better, and some for the worse, but one thing has been consistent. Through all its expansion and growth, Rathdrum remains a very tight-knit community, and Rathdrum Days is a place where everyone meets up and celebrates this great quality.

Ryan Burnett is an intern with the Coeur d'Alene Press.