FORT MYERS, Fla. — The youngest and only woman to bring high-level high school basketball players and teams to southwest Florida is right here in Fort Myers.
I’m talking about the City of Palms Classic basketball tournament.
Mary Schaack took a fifty-year tradition and added her touch to bring the entire nation to Fort Myers.
Watch Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price's report:
"When I first started, I told my boss I wanted to take his job after he left, and he laughed at me," says Schaack.
Mary Schaack refers to the late John Naylor, who passed in 2022.
She says Naylor would be proud of her accomplishments – she’s the only female Executive Director of a basketball tournament of this magnitude.
"He would say that I brought a younger feel to it than when he was running it," says Schaack. "And that's something he always talked about that he wanted to do."
The City of Palms Classic garners national attention from numerous media outlets. The games are at Florida Southwestern in Fort Myers, generally in December.
They host Live interviews and promotional broadcasts while the tournament is active. Various newspapers from Southwest Florida and nationwide, such as USA Today, ESPN.com, and ESPN Magazine, provide day-to-day coverage of the entire tournament.
"We're trying to make it like more of an event, not just a tournament," says Schaack.
Thousands of people come to Fort Myers to watch high-energy D-1 level basketball. The players are only in high school, though.
"We want them to come in and there be games that are happening at halftime, just like you see in college games.
Schaack says her goal is to amplify local talent on a national scale but not only for the players but for local businesses.
"We started the player's lounge with twin cuts. And then we also just started our hospitality suite this year as well," says Schaack.
Schaack has made relationships with NBA legends whose sons play in the tournament.
Like the Boozer twins and Carmelo Anthony’s son.
"It's honestly a blessing that we're lucky enough that teams want to come to our event," says Schaack.
She says it's competitive, and this is the opportunity for our local teams to get seen.
FOX4: When people notice you're the person behind the City of Palms classic, they're like, you're young, you're a woman.
Mary Schaack: Yes!
FOX4: What's that experience like?
Mary Schaack: It's been funny, because a lot of people think I'm way older by my name, just because my name is Mary, they think of an older person. So every time I meet a new person who's just talking to the phone or over email, they're like, shocked as soon as they meet me that I'm only 30.
Schaack says she is living her dream but it was not always easy.
"In my past experience in my careers, I tried to advance into a more male-dominated direction, and I was told that they've never seen a woman go there," says Schaack.
Schaack says that early in her career, she quit that job and found her home as an intern for this tournament.
"And I gave my all to this tournament," says Schaack. "So my goal now is to increase the number of women that are on the floor."
She now has 12 girls working with her who went to FGCU, like Schaack.
"My goal is to take all the students in the same classes that I took, the same seats that I sat in, and bring them here and give them the opportunity to meet people, to advance their careers," says Schack.
