Summer is a time to go camping, have picnics, go swimming … and play basketball. Summer basketball is still thriving in Newtown – even more so, now, with the sounds of dribbling resounding on hard courts from Treadwell Park and Reed Intermediate School. The Rising Stars and Lady Hawks Summer Basketball Leagues have provided nearly 120 kids the opportunity to keep their hoop skills sharp in a fun and competitive environment. Rising Stars was created back in 1999 by current and former Newtown High School coaches John Quinn, Gregg Simon and Ken Good. The idea was to develop the young basketball talent of Newtown in an effort to further enhance the prospects of the high school teams. The original concept was to have boys’ and girls’ leagues. But a smaller turnout than expected on the girls side squashed that idea and led to Rising Stars becoming a co-ed league. It has always hovered about six teams, with about a dozen members per team. The league has had as many as seven teams, but this year dipped to five teams though each team is stocked with as many as 15 players. Last year, the interest among female basketball players was high enough that Vin Harkins was able to form the Lady Hawks Summer Basketball League. Now in its second summer, there are more than 40 girls in Lady Hawks. The girls, in grades six through nine, are split among four teams that play – like Rising Stars – in a relaxed, but competitive, atmosphere. There is still a lot more hoop to be played, so the sounds of dribbling basketballs will continue to echo through Newtown for a few more weeks.