Student-Run Clothing Brand Hosts Charity Basketball Tournament
Students participating in the basketball tournament. Credit: Ava Battinelli ‘26
On Oct. 8, the student-made clothing brand Chamberlin held a charity basketball tournament in Marist College’s McCann Arena.
The event, Playing for Po-Town, was a 3v3 basketball tournament put on by Chamberlin Brand. With a $5 entry fee for players, all proceeds were given to the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie.
“We have about nine teams that are going to play in the tournament,” said brand designer Roman Katona ’24. “Thanks to the generous help of the staff at McCann, we have two courts to play on. It’ll be based on a normal tournament-style bracket, and the winning team will receive t-shirts we designed specifically for this event.”
Chamberlin was founded in 2020 by Marist graduate Joe Millman ’23. During his time at Marist, Millman collaborated with the student-run boutique MPorium in 2021 to sell select items. As a current student, Katona continues to raise brand awareness within the Marist community.
After living in Manhattan over the summer, Katona was inspired to incorporate basketball into Chamberlin’s fundraiser. “We played a lot of basketball over the summer in Central Park and different areas in the city,” said Katona. “We didn’t want the event to be directly related to the brand but something fun people could come to and support.”
The brand aims to explore the idea of New York City through clothing. “Each collection and piece we do is somehow related to a story about New York City or even upstate New York,” said Katona.
“The last collection we did was called The City of Dreams. We had t-shirts and shorts designed for this collection,” said Katona. “We try to use high-quality materials and designs.”
Chamberlin Brand’s Instagram account states that quality and sustainability are the highest priority. “Every piece we drop has been meticulously designed to be luxurious and always worth the price,” said Katona.
Katona designed Chamberlin t-shirts specifically for the winners of Playing for Po-Town. He collected information about the sizes of the winning team and ordered the shirts accordingly.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Liam Haggerty ’24, who played in the tournament. “I’m glad I decided to play with my team for a good cause. We had some great players on the court.”
The event was a huge success in raising awareness for both the brand and the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie.
“Most of the teams showed up to play, and we had a lot of good games,” said Katona. “We had people from all over the Marist community participate, and I’m really pleased with the turnout.”