Five reasons to celebrate being a Court Monitor

Since this is the Fifth Annual Fast Eddy's Summer BAM Jam, here are five great reasons to volunteer as a Court Monitor.

Court Monitors receive STADIA shorts and special shirts

1. Thanks to STADIA Clothing Court Monitors will get a newly designed pair of court monitor shorts. These shorts have pockets for your keys and cell phone, draw strings and breathable material. And of course, CM will also receive their Court Monitor shirts to go with them.

2. Private parking - this year, Court Monitors will receive special parking passes that put them right in the middle of the action. The Court Monitor parking lot is located right in the middle of the tournament so you can simply park your car and jump right on to your court.

3. Lunch both days - Thanks again to Pita Pit, all Court Monitors will be getting lunch on both Saturday and Sunday. Chicken? Ham and Turkey? You got it!

4. Keep the ball - yep, when you finish up with your court on Sunday you get to keep the basketball that your teams used.

5. And of course, by volunteering as a Court Monitor you are helping out a great community event that helps our local economy and local non-profit organizations. Plus, you get to meet some great people that are volunteering along side of you and the players that are on your court.

All Court Monitors will be provided with training and at the event you have a support staff specifically assigned to provide you with assistance if you need it. Your basic duties include: making sure the correct teams are on your court, getting games started on time, providing information on game rules and insuring that game scores get turning in to the master scoreboard. And if you are interested in officiating games, we can put you on a bracket that includes that as well.

Click here to learn more about being a Court Monitor and to register. When you register you can tell us what size of shirt and shorts you would like and we will be able to contact you about upcoming training options. 

Court Monitors get a first class experience

Our goal at BAM Jam is to give our Court Monitors a first class experience when they volunteer for the summer and spring tournaments. This summer, we've tried to make that experience even better (click here to volunteer or learn more).

Court Monitors are really the underpinning of the tournament. They make sure that games start on time and finish correctly. They get the correct teams playing on the correct courts and they facilitate the flow of the tournament. Each Court Monitor also gets the opportunity to network and interact with the athletes that are participating.

All Court Monitors will receive training to prepare them for the tournament (two different dates are available). They will also receive special Court Monitor shorts and shirts to wear during the tournament. Lunch is provided both days (thank you Pita Pit) and new this year, the first 30 Court Monitors that sign up will get a parking pass located in the middle of the tournament! And, as always, you get to keep the ball that is used on your court.

We are always looking for great Court Monitors. If you are available to help with this important position, please register online so that we can get your correct shirt and short size. Register at www.bamjamboise.com/volunteer. It's a great way to get involved and give back to your community.

9 great reasons to be a court monitor

Boise and the Treasure Valley are full of great people, givers really. They donate their time and efforts to make this one of the best communities in the nation. And with all of the great events that this area hosts, we are proud that so many of you have chosen to give back to BAM Jam as court monitors.

Why have so many decided to give back? Well, here are 9 reasons we've come up with that you might consider. We're always looking for great court monitors to be a part of the event. What do you think?

1. Every Court Monitor receives training prior to the event so they know what to expect and are prepared to have a great time!
2. Get BBQ Friday night
3. CM can get their coffee fix Saturday morning from Moxie Java
4. Pita Pit will provide you with lunch on Saturday
5. CM get the official BAM Jam Court Monitor shirts with the coveted "Court Monitor" emblazoned across the back
6. Receive a cool BAM Jam hat
7. All CM receive shorts from STADIA Clothing, the most stylish athletic ware anywhere
8. Each CM gets to take home their court's basketball
9. Build new friendships with the players that play on your court

And of course, underlying all of this is the fact that you would be helping out a cool community event, the Idaho Select Player's Fund and the Boys & Girls Club. More information on being a Court Monitor is available here.

Hoopfest is underway and Spokane is the beneficiary

We finished up Friday with a volunteer session for checking in the Hoopfest Court Monitors. With nearly 650 Court Monitors registered to work Saturday and Sunday, their team has the check in system completely dialed in from training to getting the monitors their gear to making sure they have everything they need from whistles to sunscreen.

From there we took a quick walk around downtown as the logistics team gets their set up preparation done. It is incredible how the entire town gets behind this tournament. From the city letting Hoopfest store their baskets in city storage, to staging the night before to rearranging the city transit schedule and bus routes, Spokane has completely bought in. They even let them banner the downtown light posts and put up speakers on every street! The city's reward? An estimated $39 million in additional revenue during the weekend generated specifically by Hoopfest.

Saturday, the first official day of Hoopfest couldn't have gone better for the BAM Jam crew. The day started with a ride on their modified city transportation. Normally, a day pass on their transit system costs $3.50. During Hoopfest it is just $1.50 and in 10 minutes you can get all the way downtown.

The first shift starts at 8:00 AM with a volunteer session at the data entry center. The Hoopfest bracketing/tournament results are completely digital. They strive to have all brackets updated within about 10 minutes of the score sheets being turned in. This is quite a challenge with 485 brackets and sheets coming in every 30 minutes. We had 10 volunteers entering game results into their custom made software and were able to keep up. All the results are available online and they added a mobile application this year. Next year they plan to add text messaging as well.

The BAM Jam Boise Dot Com team also did very well. They are competing in the Elite Division and were ranked #2 this year after finishing second last year. Their first two games were on the Nike Center Court and went 2-0 to finish the day. While the offense was OK it was their defense that proved to be most effective. Sunday they open against another Treasure Valley team at 10:00 AM (Pacific Time). If they win their first three games they will be back in the final four. A loss and they'll have to battle through the losers bracket.

Several Treasure Valley teams are still in the hunt for this year's Hoopfest title including Still OC (Keegan Cook), Gates of Hope (Joel Ryman), STADIAdotcom (Ryan McCarthy and Wade Joseph), Wheatland Bank (Cory Violette and Dan Mcfaul) and BodyBuildingdotcom (Booker Nabors) along with BAM Jam Boise dotcom (Matt Bauscher, Clint Hordemann, Jon DeWolfe and Paul Noonan). But the defending champs, Tonicx (David Pendergraft), is still alive and takes on Wheatland Bank first thing Sunday morning.

And of course don't forget that BAM Jam will take place in Boise on August 5-6 where you can see or even compete against some of these same players.

On the road to Hoopfest

As all 3 on 3 fans and players know, the Spokane Hoopfest is the gold standard of the world's 3 on 3 tournaments. Several of the BAM Jam staff are headed to Spokane this weekend to both play and volunteer at the world's largest 3 on 3 tournament. Our goals are simply to learn more about how to run a great tournament and have a great time.

Some of us are working, some not so much

The trip to Spokane from Boise runs 6-7 hours depending on traffic. Six of us are packed into an Excursion. Our first volunteer shift starts at 4:00 PM to help check in the tournament's court monitors. We are really looking forward to seeing how their system compares to our and if there are some areas that we can make improvements.

On Saturday, our volunteer shift starts at 8:00 AM when we will help them with their data entry stuff. Not really sure what this means exactly, but it will definitely be an experience.

Our first game is at 10:00 AM on Center Court. The competition will be tough but the weather conditions look favorable. Can't wait for an exciting weekend!

Thank you, refunds and social media

A big thank you to all the volunteers, players and fans that came out to this Spring's Fast Eddy's BAM Jam! We hope that you had a fantastic time and are thinking about the Summer BAM Jam on August 5-6 in downtown Boise.

To the teams that signed up but weren't able to get in, we should have your refunds completed by Wednesday night.

For the summer, registration should open in June. Be sure to check back often to stay up to date. You can also stay in touch through our Facebook page and Twitter.