Stafford steps in to keep Budd Grebb League going
Damani Stafford enjoyed his time playing in the Budd Grebb summer outdoor basketball league when he was in high school at California and is keeping that opportunity available for current local players.
Stafford found out former organizer Michael Ciserano wasn’t going to be able to run the league this year and stepped in to take over.
He got a late start and had to battle poor weather for most of June, but the league is alive and well this summer.
“In late May I found out that Mike wasn’t going to be able to do it and I just didn’t want us to go a whole summer without this league that has been going on for so long,” said Stafford, who is a student and football player at PennWest California. “I wanted to help out the kids in the community to give them something to do. I started making calls to the California borough and the rec center and it’s been nothing but support from all of them. It was a no-brainer. As soon as they said I could do it, I took it and ran.”
The Budd Grebb league is named after James “Budd” Grebb, who founded the league in the 1990’s. Grebb died in 2008. He was an educator, coach and sports official from California.
There are six boys teams and four girls teams in the league. There’s a draft every year to place newcomers to the league.
Girls games are Monday and Wednesday at 7 and 8 p.m. Boys games are Tuesday and Thursday at 7, 8 and 9 p.m.
Games are played at Mechanic Street Park in California, as long as the weather cooperates.
The elements have certainly been a challenge thus far. Rain was persistent in June and forced some games to be moved indoors to the Monessen Civic Center.
“The girls were able to play their first set of games, but the Tuesdays and Thursdays have had some rough weather where we had to cancel the first week,” Stafford said. “I kind of felt bad, because the boys didn’t really get a chance to start until last week.”
Aside from being played outdoors, another interesting feature is that 2025 high school graduates can play in the league.
That allowed 2024-25 Observer-Reporter Boys Basketball Player of the Year Zion Moore of Belle Vernon to participate as well as recent Uniontown grads Notorious Grooms and Calvin Winfrey.
“We want to give those guys that are playing college ball next year an opportunity to get out there and stay in shape,” Stafford said.
Moore, Grooms and Winfrey are on separate teams. Each team has at least one coach and a couple of local high school coaches, Bentworth’s Bob Kennedy and California’s Brent Baker, are coaching in the league.
“It’s nice to have guys involved in the league who are high school basketball coaches,” Stafford said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s streetball, so there aren’t any practices or anything like that, but those guys are able to tell kids what they are doing wrong or need to work on.”
On the girls side, some of the coaches are former standout players like Frazier grads Eliza Newcomer and Kendall Shaporka and Beth-Center’s Elizabeth Trump, California’s Rakyiah Porter and Ca’Mari Walden and Monessen’s Mercedes Majors and Qitarah Hardison.
There will be a youth flag football event July 12 and a block party for the Budd Grebb championship games July 25.