The Worcester Majors, which is the Worcester-based team in the American Basketball Association (ABA), is bringing community engagement and the sport of basketball to a new level. While not the ABA that gave us Dr. J, George Gervin and David Thompson to name a few stars, this newly launched ABA is not short on exceptional talent, innovative play and a great fan experience.

The Majors are owned by Beast ‘Em Basketball, which was founded and is directed by AJ “Coach Beast” Stephens and La’Toya Bentic. Coach Beast currently serves as the Worcester Majors’ President and General Manager.

Currently, the ABA and the Majors are “experimenting” with rules such as back court steals, or the 3D rule which encourages and rewards, among other things, full-court defensive pressure for the majority of the game. “It establishes a 3D atmosphere and a hard working basketball game, which is pretty fun,” said Alex Gulotti, community relations specialist for the Majors.

In addition, the ABA serves as a farm system for overseas teams.

“It’s for guys who played in college or didn’t go to college and played high level basketball and want to do that for their profession but didn’t have the opportunity to do continue playing,” Gullotti said, joking that “a lot of these guys are nasty,” indicating that their ability to play can be jaw dropping sometimes.

Gulotti said that from watching try out videos alone, viewers can tell which players really “get into it.”

“They work so hard,” Gullotti said. “There’s this one guy named Scott Arsenault. He’s a sharp shooter. He just cashes threes. There’s another guy, Josiah Kimball, who’s one of the most athletic guys I’ve seen.”

There are a couple of players from the area as well. Walter Weekes and Julius Goines are from Worcester. Jamari Johnson is from Boston. Arsenault is from Walpole, and Chibunna Belonwu is from Randolph.

“I think Worcester is becoming a bit of a minor league sports hub. Affordable sports is just one of my personal favorite things to exist,” Gullotti said. “Specifically basketball, it’s becoming one of the most popular sports worldwide. Having this affordable team, having this approachable team, and this accessible team, I think it’s really important not only to the community but also the individuals in it.”

Coach Beast also runs a lot of youth sports. His mission statement, according to Gullotti, is for the Majors to fill a gap that Worcester currently has.

“We’re in Worcester. We’re in a place that doesn’t have a basketball team. We’re in a place that maybe doesn’t have the best opportunity to afford Celtics games. We’re in a place where people may be looking for role model figures they maybe don’t have, especially in athletics,” Gullotti said. “Coach Beast wants to be all of those things.”

The Majors are hoping to not only be affordable for the Worcester community but to also work with kids in the area and turn into well-rounded role models for them.

“We’re hoping to have kids who don’t have access to athletics get that,” Gullotti said. “He sees this as an opportunity to make headway in that field: athletics for kids, athletics for adults.”

The Majors have been trying to go to schools within the area and work with students. In addition, the team hosted a basketball camp for children to attend last summer. The week-long camp cost only $5, and boys and girls ages 8-12 and 13-17 were able to work with the professional basketball team.

“It feels like a real basketball game,” Gullotti said. “It kind of has the intimacy of a college game but it has the skill of a professional game. It’s just really cool.”

“They’re really good guys. I think they’re good people to look up to,” Gullotti said. “They’re good people to have in the community. It’s just a really good experience for Worcester.”

The Majors are partnered with Rec Worcester and WUTY Unity Radio. In an effort to be involved with schools, the team is also now working with Chandler Elementary to help with its afterschool programming.

To buy tickets for just $12 to see the Majors in action, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/worcester-majors-vs-new-jersey-knights-tickets-218103301847. Games are at the Bancroft School, and merchandise and food are always available.