White Plains Summer Basketball Tournament Continues Its Historic Run
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by Clark Thompson and Warren Rosenberg - MetroSports Magazine August 17, 2026
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — One of Westchester County’s most recognizable summer basketball traditions is back on the court in 2026, this time under a new name and with a new home.
The longtime Ferris World Basketball Tournament, a White Plains institution dating back more than four decades, has returned as the White Plains Adult Men’s Summer Basketball League, bringing competitive summer basketball back to the community while addressing the logistical and safety challenges that had grown alongside the event.
The tournament's return follows a turbulent 2025 season. In August 2025, three people were wounded in a shooting on Church Street as spectators were leaving a Ferris World Ball event at Gardella Park. More than 20 shots were fired, according to police. The incident led the city to cancel the scheduled championship game and announce that it was discontinuing the men's league.
For many players and fans, however, the end of Ferris World was difficult to accept. The tournament had become far more than a neighborhood basketball league. Established in 1983, it had developed into a regional summer attraction, drawing players and spectators from throughout Westchester and the surrounding area. A 2025 community petition described the event as a 42-year institution built around basketball, mentorship, community pride and opportunity.
The city ultimately found a way to preserve the tradition while changing its structure.
According to the City of White Plains, the 2026 Adult Men’s Summer Basketball League runs from August 5 through September 3, with games being played at SUNY Purchase and the Theodore D. Young Community Center in Greenburgh. The playoffs and championship are scheduled for SUNY Purchase.
The move represents a significant departure from the tournament's longtime home at Gardella Park on Ferris Avenue. As the league grew, city officials said the crowds had outgrown the capacity of the park and surrounding neighborhood, creating challenges involving parking, noise, traffic and cleanup. The new venues provide larger facilities and additional parking while allowing the league to continue.
White Plains Mayor Justin Brasch called the return an important moment for the community, describing the annual basketball league — still affectionately known by many as “Ferris World Ball” — as an important local tradition.
The 2026 revival also carries an element of continuity. The tournament's identity was built around generations of White Plains players, families and fans who made summer basketball at Gardella Park part of their annual routine. In 2023, Ferris World was already being described as one of the premier summer basketball leagues in the region, attracting large crowds, strong competition and players from well beyond White Plains.
The return is particularly meaningful given the loss of Kevin Higgs, a longtime community leader and driving force behind Ferris World, who died unexpectedly in March 2025. Higgs was remembered as someone who mentored generations of young people and helped build the tournament into a major community basketball event. The 2026 tournament is therefore something of a new chapter rather than simply a return to the past. The White Plains Basketball Tournament retains the competitive spirit and community legacy associated with Ferris World while moving the games into facilities designed to accommodate the event's regional following.
For players who spent years competing at Gardella Park, and for fans who made summer basketball part of their White Plains experience, the significance is simple: the games are back.
The name may have changed, the courts may be different and the tournament has entered a new era, but the tradition of summer basketball in White Plains continues.
Ferris World may have left Gardella Park — but White Plains basketball has not disappeared. It has found a way to start again.
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