Harlem Ambassadors to compete against Dawsonville Shooting Stars March 7

By Michele Hester

Ladè Majic coaches the Harlem Ambassadors, a professional entertainment basketball team with a positive message.

They’ve traveled around the world entertaining millions with their fast action plays, trick shots, hilarious antics and spectacular basketball skills. On March 7, the internationally acclaimed Harlem Ambassadors basketball team will bring their entertaining comedy to Dawson County when they compete in a full on hoops game against the Dawsonville Shooting Stars.

And with the opportunity to compete against professional basketball players comes to town, true basketball fans take notice. “We have about 18 men signed up to play already,” said the Chamber’s Vice President of Tourism Marty Williams, who organized the event as a chamber fundraiser.

Thad Burgess, Dawson County High School head boys’ basketball coach, will coach the Dawsonville Shooting Stars.

Williams said the game is a definite must see. “One of our players holds the basketball points records for Dawson County High School. It should be a real good time,” he said. “The Harlem Ambassadors are supposed to be just as good as the Globetrotters.”

The Harlem Ambassadors may be similar to the Globetrotters, but a bit a magic sets them apart from, as the Ambassadors say, “your grandfather’s basketball show.” The team is coached not by a 7’ 4” man who once played professionally but found his calling in entertainment basketball.

On the contrary, the Harlem Ambassador’s coach is Ladè Majic, a celebrated woman basketball player and coach who speaks both French and English, grew up in Jersey, played college ball at Missouri and holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology. These stats alone make her the ideal person to deliver the Ambassadors message. “We’ve always stressed the importance of education,” Majic said. “We don’t have hypocrites on this team who tell kids to stay in school and get their degrees. We don’t say ‘Do as we say.’ We say “Do as we do.” Each player is also drug-free certified by the team.

The Ambassadors perform over 200 shows a year to packed gymnasiums. “This is going to be a great event for the whole family,” Williams said. “We’ll have a concession stand with hot dogs and hamburgers, so no one will have to worry about having dinner that night. And we’ll have a couple of quarters of real basketball and a couple of quarters of pure fun.”

The Chamber is still assembling sponsors and volunteers for the event, which Williams is sure, will be one of the best shows in town this year. Volunteers will each receive a t-shirt for their help and “a big thank you from the Chamber,” Williams said.

Sponsors will receive their name or company name announced during the game, two complementary tickets and their name or company mane on a banner in the gymnasium.
For more information on being a part of the Dawsonville Shooting Stars team, contact Will Wade at (678) 776-5395. For volunteer or sponsorship opportunities, contact Marty Williams at (706) 265-6278.

Harlem Ambassadors vs. Dawsonville Shooting Stars
A Basketball Show
March 7, 2006, 7 p.m.
Dawson County High School Gym
$10 General Admission
$8 Students and Senior Citizens
Children under 4 – FREE
(Save $2 by purchasing tickets in advance at the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce)