Supporter
Mr. Herbert Washington, Jr., made his mark on Lexington’s sports scene as one of the founders of the Dirt Bowl Summer Basketball League held each year at Douglass Park. Mr. Washington spent decades mentoring young players and transforming the Dirt Bowl from a run-of-the-mill summer basketball league into an iconic cultural event that transcended the sport.
The Dirt Bowl gained national notoriety during its heyday in the 1970s and 80s as star players from across the city, region, state, and beyond made their way to Georgetown Street to test their skills against the best of the best.
The Dirt Bowl’s Super Sunday is a day-long festival full of food, arts and crafts, vendors, live entertainment, and, of course, basketball. Super Sunday continues to draw basketball fans as well as those who want to “see and be seen.” Not only a fixture in Lexington’s African-American culture, the Dirt Bowl has also been featured in national publications such as Sports Illustrated and has been recognized as one of the premiere amateur basketball events in the nation.
Mr. Washington was quite an athlete himself, playing for renowned Coach S.T Roach on the 1959 Dunbar Bearcats basketball team that posted one of the best records in school history. This team was also one of the first all-black schools to play in the KHSAA Sweet 16 State basketball tournament, just a few years after Fayette County Public Schools were integrated in 1957.
In 2007, the City of Lexington named the Douglass Park basketball courts the “Herb Washington Basketball Complex” in Mr. Washington’s honor.
Mr. Washington died in 2012 at the age of 71. He and his wife, Mrs. Barbara Washington, have three sons, Jonathan, Shawn, and Kerry.
