The Harlem Ambassadors are coming to town to team up with the Rushmore Rotary Club to help raise money for Storybook Island.

The game between the Ambassadors and a group of principals and other Rotary members will be played Oct. 6 at Rapid City Stevens' Carold Heier Gymnasium. All proceeds from the tournament will go to Storybook Island - a free Rapid City children's park that is celebrating its 50th year of existence.

The Ambassadors are a group of 17 men and women who played college basketball, received degrees and now travel the world working with not-for-profit groups and other organizations to raise money and deliver a positive message to youth.

"That's our mission, trying to just be positive role models for kids," Stars and Stripes manager and team member Jesse Whintly said. "We want to show kids that you can achieve things in your life if you work hard and stay drug free."

The Ambassadors split their 17-member team into two squads - the Red, White and Blue and the Stars and Stripes. The Stars and Stripes will be the group that is coming to Rapid City. The Ambassadors travel the world, participating in more than 200 games and events per year from August to May.

"This is about putting on a show and giving communities something fun to watch and raise money for good causes," one of the Ambassadors' coaches and co-founder Lade Majic said.

The Ambassadors play four nine-minute quarters and play pretty straightforward basketball for the first eight minutes of each period. In the last minute they launch into tricks and comedy routines. Despite joking around at the end of quarters, the Ambassadors take their basketball seriously.

"We've never lost, since 1998, but we have had some close games," Whintly said. Whintly played collegiately at Spring Arbor University in Michigan and has been a member of the Harlem Ambassadors for six years.

One unique aspect of the Ambassadors is that they have women who play - and women who frequently steal the show.

"That's the biggest thing that we have, our showwomen," Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native Ashley Wilson said. "Make no mistake, we do go out and put on a show."

The group was founded in 1998 by Dale Moss and Majic, who realized that basketball had a powerful hold on many communities, but too often saw players caught up making lifestyle choices that weren't positive.

"It all came about in 1998 when we thought that there was a need to show youth around the world that if you make good decisions, stay drug-free and put your faith in God, good things can and will happen," Majic said. "It's about making good choices and showing that doing that can be fun, too."

The Rotary roster for the event is as follows: Donovan DeBoer, Stevens girls' basketball coach; T.J. Hay, Stevens boys' basketball coach; Rick Owen, Pinedale Elementary principal; Rod Haugen, South Park Elementary principal; Doug Foley, West Middle School principal; Gregg McNabb, Corral Drive Elementary principal; Randy Seales, North Middle School assistant principal; Jeannie Deming, South Middle School assistant principal; Travis Miller, Central assistant boys' basketball coach; Valerie Nefzger, North Middle School principal; Mike Talley, Central High School principal and city councilman Malcom Chapman.

Tickets to the event are being sold at all area Black Hills Federal Credit Union locations for $5 in advance and $7 the day of the game. For more information on the event, call the Rushmore Rotary at 605-342-8688.