When you see youth in the Yankton community hitting the basketball courts and in the recent past having brought state titles back to Yankton, there is an organization behind the scenes that has helped to make that happen.
Yankton Basketball Inc., better known as YBI is a local non-profit corporation organized to manage the Hansen-Haas Basketball Tournament (formerly Roger Haas) held annually each March. YBI was created by a small group of civic minded individuals who organized the first Roger Haas Basketball Tournament in 1991.
YBI has assisted in the creation of the “Little Lancers” basketball program which is organized and run by the Mount Marty College Basketball teams and the “Just for Fun” program developed with the cooperation of the City of Yankton Parks and Recreation department which involves area youth.
YBI uses the funds raised by this tournament to grant $4,000 to $6,000 yearly in post-secondary awards to YHS and MMC students who actively participated with the Hansen-Haas Tournament and YBI programs. Throughout the years YBI has sponsored various groups with such things as “team send offs” for state basketball tournament teams, Yankton Science Olympiad, Yankton Special Olympics, Yankton Volleyball, CASA, and the Yankton National Guard Unit events. YBI continues to financially support YHS Buck and Gazelle Basketball Teams through yearly support of equipment and summer camps.
Because of their commitment to enriching our community, United Way & Volunteer Services of Greater Yankton was honored to present the YBI Board of Directors with the February 2025 Volunteer of the Month Award.
This committee is made up of busy individuals from the Yankton area, who still take time to serve their community. Thank you, YBI board members Randi Kindle, Brittany Orr, Jennifer Larson, Paige Elwood, Tiffany Beste, Jerrod Daisy, Connie Sawatzke, Jason Oswald and Erica Garvey.
We asked Randi Kindle of YBI to share more about how volunteerism impacts their organization:
Please describe your organization and its mission or purpose.
Yankton Basketball Incorporated (YBI) is a local nonprofit corporation organized to help promote exposure to basketball to Yankton’s youth. We strive to include all interested individuals and give back to our community by supporting our local athletes of all ages, but especially to our High School teams.
Please describe the impact your organization makes on the community, share some stats!
We just completed our 34th annual Hansen Haas tournament that brought in 63 teams. That is over 600 participants. Over the past few summers, we’ve seen our numbers in the Summer Challenge rise to close to 60-70 participants. We are now over 200 kids 1-5 who register and participate in the Fall league!
What value do volunteers bring to your organization?
Our organization is solely based on volunteers. Without volunteer help we would not be able to function.
Please provide any pertinent statistics that show how volunteers impact your organization.
Our board members are all volunteers. They help put on and promote Summer Challenge, Youth Fall League, as well as the annual Hansen Haas tournament. Our volunteer board members are in charge of finding additional volunteer coaches for our Fall League. Many volunteer as well to coach. We also must find volunteers to run ticket sales and t-shirt sales as well as referees for the annual Hansen Haas tournament.
Do you have a recruiting message you would like to communicate to encourage others to support your organization through volunteerism?
We would love for people to join us! If you have any interest in YBI, please do not hesitate to reach out to any board member.
To learn more about local volunteer opportunities or to nominate someone for United Way’s Volunteer of the Month Award, please visit www.yanktonunitedway.org/volunteer, email info@yanktonunitedway.org, or call United Way of Greater Yankton at (605) 665-6766.
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