Check out the Connect Savannah slideshow for photos of the weekend’s two community sporting events. On Friday, July 12 at the Blackshear Basketball Complex on Wheaton Street, the City of Savannah Parks and Recreation Department hosted its first ever Above the Violence 3v3 Hoops Tournament. The tournament was free and open to male and female players ages 18 and over. The City of Savannah Parks and Recreation Department hopes to have more events like it in the immediate future, but the eventual plan is to have an official 3v3 league, hosted and organized by the city, at some point in 2025.

On Saturday, July 13, a native Savannahian returned to his hometown to host a free football camp that he first began four years ago. Nolan Smith is an Eagles’ defensive end set to begin his second NFL season in Philadelphia this fall.

The former Calvary Day School and University of Georgia star has hosted the “Nolan Smith Pups Day Out” football camp for four consecutive years. This year’s camp was at Daffin Park (Morris Field) and hundreds showed up to see the beloved UGA Bulldog putting the city’s youth through drills for nearly two hours. The basketball photos (approx. 30-40 in total) are in the first portion of the gallery. Scenes from Smith’s camp on Saturday follow those. Check it out below!

This article appears in Connect Savannah I July 2024.