3-on-3 tournament highlights the hazards of vaping
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 months, 1 week AGO
Jairo Lopez of Soap Lake gets ready to take a shot at the Suds ‘N Sun 3-on-3 basketball tournament Saturday morning.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | July 8, 2024 12:55 AM
SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Suds ‘N Sun festival Saturday had a new element this year: a 3-on-3 basketball tournament sponsored by the Soap Lake Prevention Coalition.
“I thought about putting the … tournament together three years ago, said C.W. Forrest, who was refereeing. “We just didn't have the ability to make it happen. And then this year, (coalition president Ryan Boldman) said, ‘Let's put it together.’ … So now we’re moving forward and trying to make this a yearly event.”
The basketball tournament was conceived as a way to call attention to the dangers of vaping, Forrest said.
“Vaping is one of the biggest problems with our youth right now,” Forrest said. “We’ve got the logos and some stuff on the balls, and the winner gets a shirt that'll have some statistics about vaping on it.”
Four teams were pre-registered and two more signed up Saturday morning, including one team of girls.
“I'm cool with that for the first year,” Forrest said.