Believe it or not, it seems as though the top streetball competition in the world this summer might be held in Cologne, Germany. Known as the “5×5 Germany’s Reality Check” and billed as a full-on “urban basketball and lifestyle event,” this tournament will mark its sixth annual program with 16 teams on August 6 and 7.
Youth coach/social worker Mbimba Jon Mavinga first organized the event in 2006, a feat that earned him a special citizenship award from the mayor of Cologne; this year’s edition of the Reality Check seeks to draw some 2,500 spectators over two days of play.
Teams from Germany, the US, Belgium, England, France and Romania will be competing in 2011, with last year’s finalists qualifying for Paris’ Quai 54 tourney (an event prestigious enough to have inspired its own sneaker in the Jordan line) and the U.S.-based Tournament of Stars going down in mid-August.
And as is the case in such competitions, the five-on-five games are hardly the only attraction in Cologne. Internationally-renowned basketball tricksters the Team Flight Brothers and Guy Dupuy will be on hand to present their awe-inspiring stuff in seeking to defend their 2010 title in the ever-popular dunk contest. Also on the slate are the “Freestyle 1-on-1 Basketball Battle,” a shootout contest and hip hop concerts.
For more information on the competition or to order tickets, visit the official website of Germany’s Reality Check here.
