Villages Men’s Basketball Club celebrates 23 years of brotherhood on the hardwood

For more than two decades, a dedicated fraternity of local hoopsters has been proving that a passion for basketball does not retire when you move to Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.

Now in its 23rd year of operation, The Villages Men’s Basketball Club has grown into an active roster of approximately 130 members ranging from 50-year-olds to players well into their 80s.

Meeting three mornings a week, the group gathers not for multi-million-dollar contracts or cutthroat league standings, but for high-spirited pick-up ball, exercise, and lifelong camaraderie.

The club owes its existence to Lonnie Levy, an 82-year-old resident of the Village of Bonniebrook who serves as club president.

When Levy first moved to The Villages 23 years ago, he visited the developer’s sales office and asked where he could sign up to play basketball.

Staff eagerly walked him through the community’s burgeoning roster of activities, pointing out golf courses, tennis courts, and newly emerging pickleball courts, only to inform him that basketball was nowhere to be found.

Levy famously pounded the table in disbelief.

“I said, ‘How can you not have basketball? It’s the fourth most popular sport in the country!'” Levy recalled with a laugh. “They said, ‘Take it easy, put something in the paper.’ So that’s how it started.”

The club initially launched on October 21, 2004, with four to eight players battling the Florida heat on outdoor neighborhood courts for roughly five years.

The club caught its breakthrough when Levy crossed paths with a secretary at the First Baptist Church of Oxford, who helped arrange morning gym access for the players during hours when the building sat empty.

That connection blossomed into a 21-year partnership between the basketball club and the church.

Each player contributes a $5 donation per session directly to First Baptist Church of Oxford for the use of the facility. Over the years, those small contributions have raised tens of thousands of dollars, including substantial club donations that helped the church finance and install its composite sports floor.

Today, the club draws 20 to 30 players per session, running games every Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Oxford, alongside Sunday morning sessions at 7:45 a.m. at The Villages Primary Center gym (formerly the Intermediate Center).

The games are strictly pick-up style, with no set teams. Members purchase a $15 reversible club jersey and split into squads on the fly, running games up to 15 points (counting by twos and threes).

To protect the players and ensure equal participation, the club operates under a mandatory “two-game maximum” rule. Regardless of whether a team wins or loses, players must rotate off after two consecutive games.

“It gives everybody a chance to play, and there’s a safety factor there, too,” explained Vice President Mike Przybylowicz, a resident of the Village of Gilchrist. “When you’re going for that winning basket, you don’t want people hacking the heck out of each other. We’re out here to have fun and socialize.”

The club is governed by a seven-member board of directors that oversees safety and court decorum. Because basketball remains one of the few contact sports played in The Villages, the board steps in if gameplay becomes overly rough or verbal. However, in more than two decades, leaders noted they have only had to permanently dismiss a couple of players, preferring gentle warnings to keep the atmosphere welcoming and clean.

“It really is a brotherhood,” Levy said. “The guys playing at this age are playing purely for the love of the game.”

Levy estimates that hundreds of men have participated in the group over the years, with their friendships and camaraderie extending well beyond the hardwood.

Members hail from every section of The Villages, from historic districts north of County Road 466 to neighborhoods near State Road 44.

The club hosts annual social events, including a “Welcome Back Snowbirds” pizza party at Lake Sumter Landing in November, a formal winter gathering in February, and a spring farewell pizza party in April.

Levy, who frequently writes poetry celebrating life and sports, recently penned poems marking the club’s 23rd milestone and the enduring joy of playing ball as an octogenarian.

Membership in The Villages Men’s Basketball Club is open to all male Villages residents who are 50 years of age or older with a valid Villages ID. Annual dues are $10, in addition to the $15 jersey and the church facility donation per play date.

Villagers interested in joining or learning more can register online by visiting the Villages Men’s Basketball Club website.

Do you play pick-up basketball or another sport in The Villages? Share your thoughts in a comment below or submit a letter to the editor.