The Burg community has shown its firm support of the surging Tampa Bay Rowdies. Their presence has helped activate the downtown area and made it a haven for longtime residents, young professionals and families on Saturday nights. The success of the Rowdies has paved the way for another sport to find its footing in the Burg: basketball. The St. Pete Tide, an ABA team, will start their season with an away game against the Orlando Waves. They'll make their home debut at the McArthur Center at Eckerd College on November 13 against the South Florida Gold.  

The team hosted open tryouts this summer. These tryouts offered locals the chance to achieve a lifelong dream, and former pros to continue playing the game they love. Several of the NBA's biggest stars got their start in the ABA. Hardwood legends like  Julius “Dr. J” Irving, Artis Gilmore, George “Iceman” Gervin, Rick Barry, Connie Hawkins and Moses Malone all played for the ABA. The league was a rival to the NBA when it first began in 1967, but folded just nine years later. The San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks were all once a part of the league. The mission of the present day ABA, which returned in 1999, is to provide players opportunities to continue their basketball careers and provide fans with exciting, affordable, and family friendly entertainment. 

The ABA is the largest American professional sports league with 93 franchises currently playing nationwide in the 2015-2016 season. The ABA has teams currently playing in 30 different states in the US as well teams that travel from Canada and a travel team from Japan. The Tide's season will run through March 5. The ABA currently employs over 1000 players, 200 coaches, 200 officials and thousands more in various franchise staff and game day operations positions and has served as a stepping stone for many professional careers in the sports and entertainment industry. 

Click HERE to reserve tickets for the Tide's upcoming games and to view their full season schedule. The roster includes St. Pete local Kevon Woods (Guard). Woods is a Burg native who played for, St. Petersburg High School and Lakewood High School (Florida) , before playing collegiately at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa. Recent Eckerd College graduate Jerrick Stevenson (Forward) will also have a huge impact on the team. Stevenson scored over 1,300 points during his time playing for the Tritons. Other stars include: CJ Bargman, who played at Hillsborough Community College and NCAA D1 Mississippi Valley State; Jarey Brown, former captain of the varsity team at Pinellas Park High School and played at Piedmont College in GA; and E.J Moody, former guard for the Eckerd College Tritons.