A major purchase was made for the community of Prince Rupert by the All Native Basketball Tournament (ANBT) Association recently.
A new portable, hardwood basketball court was purchased for the yearly tournament, to be installed at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre on an occasional basis.
ANBT president Peter Haugan was able to give some insight into where it came from and why it will add excellent value to the tournament.
“The hardwood was purchased from Central Florida University, and was sent to Toronto for refurbishing. The new court is just like the ones used in the NBA (National Basketball Association), and has the same dimensions used by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA),” Haugan said last week.
The reason the court was purchased was because the existing court, used in the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre, needed around $100,000 worth of work to bring it up to the standards conducive to competitive play.
CN donated an undisclosed amount to the All Native Basketball Tournament for purchase of the court as well.
A big thank you by the ANBT went out to CN for making the court a reality.
Existing infrastructure will be used to complete the court; the underlay which was used at GM Place (now-Rogers Arena) by the ex-NBA team, Vancouver Grizzlies, is being used, as well as the portable hoops the Grizzlies used to train on at their facility in Langley.
The Women’s and Masters’ divisions will tip-off on the new playing surface on Feb. 7 – 15, when the tournament gets underway.
The All Native Basketball Qualifying Tournament will be held from Nov. 25 – 28 at the Jim.
