By William Crooks
The boys’ U15 (age 15 and under) and U17 (age 17 and under) national championships are being held this week at Bishop’s University’s John H. Price Sports and Recreation Center. The Record visited and spoke with Quebec Basketball Federation executive director Daniel Grimard to get the full story.
“The girls were here [BU] last year and this year they are in Calgary,” Grimard began, referring to the girls’ U15 and U17 national championships. Bishop’s is a great venue and has amazing facilities, he added. “The site is beautiful.” The boys’ provincial teams are using BU’s residences for the week.
“Each province has a representative team [in the tournaments],” he continued, although PEI possesses only a U15 team. The competitions started on Monday and will end on Saturday with the finals.
For each championship, the teams are seeded according to their placement in last year’s event. The teams are split into three pools and then complete a short round robin to re-rank themselves before competing in an elimination tournament. “[Every team] has a chance to make it to the final rounds,” he insisted.
Ontario placed first in the U15 category last year, while Quebec placed first in the U17 category.
Larger provinces have more athletes to draw on, so they have an advantage, he admitted.
The competitions go all week and medals will be awarded on Saturday, he reiterated. Every game is open to the public, he said, and they welcome people to attend. “We have people from all across Canada here,” he said.
