The inaugural session for the State Rep. Bill MacGregor Summer Basketball League had some high-flying help on Thursday, as the season kicked off with a show from Lucky, the Boston Celtics Mascot, and the Boston Celtics Flight Crew.

Lucky and his teamed bounced high into the area, performing flips, dunks, alley-oops and other stunts for the cheering crowd.

State Rep. Bill MacGregor said the league and the kickoff night were all the brainchild of resident Jamie Pierce. Pierce herself said she doesn’t have too much of a background in basketball, but her children are really taking to the game.

“I grew up in West Roxbury, played the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) basketball at the Roche, but I wasn’t any good!” she said with a laugh. “My 13-year-old daughter Keira Connerty started playing at 6 and has loved it ever since she plays on three teams for Fontbonne, Parkway and the Behn Hurricanes AAU team. And now my 6-year-old Kaylie is following in her big sister’s footsteps and starting to love it.”

Pierce said she got the idea for a summer league in Southie.

“And I was like what a great idea... we need that here – my girls would love it,” she said. “I work with Billy’s wife and knew he has the street hockey league so reached out to see if he wanted to help get it up and running. I made a post on neighborhood Facebook pages to see if there would be interest and a lot of people said yes. I made a Google form, made flyers and shared with schools in the area and over 300 kids signed up.”

Pierce added it was amazing to get Lucky to the Parkway.

“We wanted to do a fun opening night and I immediately thought of Lucky as I follow him on Instagram and have seen him go to youth camps and events to perform his dunk show!” she said. “It was a lot more work than I thought it would be with that many kids, but totally worth it!”

Pierce said the schedules are Girls 6-14 play Tuesday nights, and Boys 6-15 play Thursdays.

“This came together with Jamie, when she made a post about putting together summer basketball league, and I had already been talking to a friend about doing something similar,” he said. “So we connected with Jamie, who is friends with my wife, and it just went from there.”

MacGregor has been historically involved with several youth sports initiatives, including his Youth Street Hockey League and several youth workshops for football and soccer. He said for the basketball and street hockey leagues, they’ve already done sign ups for hundreds of kids in each league.

“The teams are all set, but we don’t ever want to say no to a kid,” he said. “This is what’s it’s all about, putting this together for the community, and why I ran for this job. When Jamie and I were first talking about this, we were hoping for about 50 or 60 kids, and we have over 300 signed up.”

“That was so much fun,” he said. “I was like a little kid. I told them we’re definitely having them back.”

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Pierce said she agreed, and that they are looking to end the season with another show from Lucky and his team for players who couldn’t make it last week.

Pierce said they have three local basketball coaches volunteer to run the games, as well as youths willing to coach for volunteer service hours as well.

“We are so fortunate to have three local basketball lovers and high school coaches volunteer to run some skill clinics for the kids: Kristen McDonnell, Tom Cavanaugh and John King,” she said.

King said he does several leagues like this when he’s not running his basketball business, Kingdom Courts, in Dorchester.

“I’m coaching two divisions, and I’m excited to get going,” he said. “I coached some of these kids for skills and drills a few weeks ago, and I’m excited to continue getting them shooting and loving the game of basketball.”

Resident and parent Katelyn Sullivan said she felt the league was a great boon to the neighborhood.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for kids in the neighborhood to get together and play basketball,” she said. “My son’s really looking forward to it, as it’s his first time joining a team and it gives him something to do on summer nights.”

Resident Blake Abbenante said his son also plays in the street hockey team.

“They’re great, we go to school in Jamaica Plain and it’s just great to have another opportunity for community here in the Parkway,” he said. “We’re having fun, though I wish it was a little bit cooler.”

For more information on the league, go to https://gvimes.link/macball