George Trippany

The George Trippany Classic is held annually by the Massena Basketball Association and the players of the Travel League. Information about the upcoming season’s George Trippany Classic will be posted as it becomes available. To learn about the origins of the George Trippany Classic, you can read more below…


George Trippany Classic

George Trippany Sr. represented the very best of what Massena Basketball had to offer for six decades.

George was a native of Massena and graduated from Holy Family High School in 1967, where he lettered in basketball, football and track. After graduation from college, George played semi-pro football for the Massena Warriors. He later married his wife of 51 years Carolyn, and they had four children.  George worked for more than 30 years as an Anode Tender for Reynolds Metals.

As a lover of all sports, George became a coach and mentor to many of Massena’s athletes, especially high school basketball and softball. When not coaching, George was on the sidelines for all of his children’s sporting events and continued to be an avid supporter of his grandkids as well. George enjoyed golfing and was a member of the Massena Country Club.

In basketball, George volunteered at every level, from K-1 Instructional League to the Varsity level. He worked closely in the Biddy Basketball Program and the Little Red Express, with then Commissioner Milt Langlois, and coaches Dave Gerace, Archie Archambeault and Roger Peets. For decades, George served as a volunteer assistant coach at the Varsity level, with Mary Arcadi, Bob Jordan, Eric Pomainville, Andrea Vierno, Mike Matejcik, Roy Thomas and Justin Shope. He also served as the Junior Varsity Coach for many years. When not coaching, George could often be seen with Pat Austin, attending some sporting event in the North Country, supporting a Raider team.

As impressive as George’s basketball resume was, he is far better known for the type of person he was. A “gentle giant”, who gained enormous respect from his players by demanding a strong work ethic from them, while always teaching the skills of the game and never wavering from his honest, sincere and caring demeanor that was routed in the principles of fairness.

For decades, the Massena Basketball Association was honored to have had George as one of our ambassadors. By naming this tournament after him, we hope to symbolize his ethic and energy for generations to come.