It was a rainy, summer day in 1990 and Eric Snyder recalled writing the letter that began Catty’s annual Tournament of Champions (ToC), which has withstood the test of time.

“I remember putting together the letter about having the tournament,” stated Snyder, the longtime tournament director and high school boys’ basketball coach. “I thought it could be a good idea and that it could work.

“The only factor that didn’t work was rotating the site of the tournament every year.”

On July 31, Snyder’s idea again will materialize at the Catty playground as the 27th annual Tournament of Champions will begin its five-day event. The tournament will feature 12 teams from leagues around the Lehigh Valley.

Nites, a team comprised of former Lehigh Valley-area standouts, defeated Mark Smith for Allentown School Board for the 2015 title. They will look to defend their title and land a spot in the championship game Aug. 4.

The tournament has managed to weather its share of storms over the years and remains in the lone hotbed of summer basketball. The Catty League, the North Catty League, and the Stiles League are the only three active leagues in the Lehigh Valley.

“In the good, old days, we would have 16 teams in the tournament and there were so many leagues around,” noted Snyder. “There had to be 20 to 30 summer leagues around stretching from the Poconos to Quakertown.

“There was a very competitive league in Washington (NJ) for many years. But once the person running the leagues stopped, no one seemed to keep it going. It does take a lot of time and effort.”

Along with the three local leagues, there is a summer high school league as well as two indoor leagues, all of them based in Allentown.

Snyder still relishes the days and pines for the days when summer basketball leagues were rabid across the area, but he is appreciative for the ToC.

“I remember the Cementon League, the Northampton League, and two leagues in Bethlehem,” he said. “There were leagues in Easton, Palmer Township, Jim Thorpe, Palmerton, Mountain Top and Tamaqua.

“There was a guy who graduated from Whitehall who started a league in Ephrata. It really was unbelievable.

“But our tournament has managed to keep going and we have some great games every year. We’re looking forward to another strong field this year.”