Indigenous basketball goes global in Burnaby

Caption: Photo credit Marie Octaviano

Team in white is Maori national side
Saints player in black
 
It’s amazing how quickly plans can snowball.

A perfect example of this is an event that British Columbia’s Skidegate Saints, a men’s basketball team, will host this summer.

Last year, the Saints of Haida Gwaii, travelled to New Zealand to play against the Maori national team.

This venture proved to be successful, and the Maori side agreed to return the favour and travel to Canada this year to square off against the Saints again.

But the original plan of having two clubs square off in a cultural and sporting exchange has blossomed into the World Indigenous Basketball Challenge.

Both the Saints and the Maori squad will take part in this event. As of mid-April, 20 clubs have confirmed they will take part.

Besides coaching the Skidegate side, Dave Wahl is also the tournament director. He believes the event, scheduled for Aug. 10 to Aug. 13 at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., could end up featuring as many as 24 teams.

“By the end of April we should have a good indication of the number of teams we are shooting for,” Wahl said.

Despite the number of clubs that have confirmed they will be taking part, it remains to be seen whether all will be able to attend.

“Some teams might end up having fundraising challenges,” Wahl said. “And some others could have visa challenges.”

The Maori squad will definitely be competing in Burnaby. Other national teams that have said they will participate are from Bermuda, Papua New Guinea, Zambia and South Sudan.

And professional teams from Haiti and Belize have also indicated they will be taking part. Clubs from across the United States and Canada will be participating too.

“The amazing thing is the amount of interest in this,” Wahl said. “There are teams from all over the world.”

So how did an event, which was supposed to feature just two entrants, turn into a massive tournament with numerous national teams as well as some pro franchises?

“We allowed it to happen,” Wahl said. “We were sending letters of inquiries out and they started confirming.”

Wahl though is somewhat surprised at just how much interest there is for this event.

“We started talking about other things we could do and thought maybe we could have a four-team tournament,” he said. “Now we’re up to 20 teams and we might end up with 24.”

The event’s moniker, however, is somewhat misleading as some of the international squads will not feature Indigenous players.

“Teams are excited about the opportunity to play in this event,” Wahl said. “And people are just excited about the event. We didn’t want to get into rigid rules about having everybody have status cards.”

Wahl is hoping the tourney becomes an annual event. He believes discussions about that are best suited to be staged during this year’s tournament, when representatives from participating clubs are all present.

“How we grow it is something we’ll talk about when we’re all together,” he said. “We’ll decide then how to grow it and who we want to come to this.”

Wahl added he is hoping there will also be discussions during the tournament to determine if there is enough interest to form a worldwide Indigenous basketball association, similar to FIBA, the International Basketball Association which governs the sport globally.
This year the tournament will be strictly a men’s event. But that too could change down the line.

“There have been a lot of people who have asked about a women’s division,” Wahl said. “It’s a good idea and we will consider that for the future.”

Last summer the Saints failed to win a game in their four matches against the Maori team. But Wahl said a couple of those contests were close.

Wahl added he’s not sure how his side will fare in this year’s event.
“I think everybody is wondering how they will do in this tournament,” he said.

The Saints are the five-time defending champions at the All Native Basketball Tournament, held annually in Prince Rupert, B.C.
Wahl anticipates the Maori entry will be tough to beat.

“They have a lot of players who have represented New Zealand internationally,” he said. “And they have players who are in the New Zealand pro league or are playing in college.”

Depending on which players it brings over, South Sudan might also be a force.

“South Sudan has a ton of talented international players,” Wahl said. “Their challenge is to get these players together because they are playing all over the world.”