OUR STORY

FERRIS WORLD BALL is a youth, high school boys’ and men’s summer basketball tournament hosted annually at Gardella Park in the Ferris Avenue neighborhood of White Plains, NY. With tradition and community at its foundation, Ferris World Ball has become a magnet for top talent and a widely respected force in New York streetball.

In 1983, the Ferris Avenue Basketball Tournament was founded under the City of White Plains by the late Jerome “Bump” Robinson, a visionary leader, mentor and director of the White Plains Community Action Partnership. His hope was to bring people together, showcase local athletics and instill a sense of pride within his community. His impact was so profound that today, Ferris Avenue is also known as Jerome “Bump” Robinson Boulevard.

Before his passing in 2004, Bump passed the baton to Gerard “Oopie” Seward, a Ferris native who grew up under his guidance and vowed to invest in the next generation of athletes and preserve the high standard of play established on Ferris Avenue.

After a few years of managing on his own, Oopie looped in and directed the tournament alongside Kevin “Higgszy” Higgs, a pillar of the Ferris Avenue neighborhood, an advocate for generations of White Plains youth and his childhood best friend.

And with a clear vision and a unshakeable belief in the tournament’s potential for greatness, Higgszy laid the foundation for the tournament we know and love today. In 2019, he coined the name Ferris World Ball, created an Instagram account for it and opened an LLC under it to tie everything together.

His passing in March 2025 marked another profound loss, but his presence remains felt in the strength of his community and the continued growth of Ferris World Ball—while the strides made in recent years have added to the tournament’s rising profile, we’ll always remember where we came from.