The Fraser Valley Bandits revealed a new broadcast team for the 2021 Canadian Elite Basketball League season, announcing Rob Fai, Ransford Brempong and Shantelle Chand as the club’s on-air talent.
Fai will serve as the play-by-play announcer, Bremong becomes the brodcast analyst and Chand will step into the sideline reporter role.
The trio’s work will air on the free CBC gem app, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices and on a new streaming platform that the CEBL will unveil soon. They will broadcast home games at the Abbotsford Centre.
From our house to yours, bringing you all the action this summer! 🗣
Introducing your 2021 Bandits broadcast team: @RobFai, Ransford Brempong and @ShantelleSChand.
🗞ï¸FULL DETAILS: https://t.co/lecJer1aWU#IAmValley x #OurGame pic.twitter.com/Qi90lbHF8i
— Fraser Valley Bandits (@FV_Bandits) June 8, 2021
Most recently an on-air talent at TSN 1040, Fai brings more than 20 seasons of play-by-play experience and spent 14 seasons as the man behind the mic for the Vancouver Canadians minor league baseball team. He currently hosts the daily podcast SportsBar Radio and the Vancouver Canucks post-game show The Nation.
Fai stated on Twitter that he will be donating his salary to the Abbotsford Hospice Society and Holmberg House.
Today, I became the newest voice for the Fraser Valley Bandits of the CEBL. I am extremely honoured to be welcomed into the #Bandits family.
I have chosen to donate my season earnings to the Abbotsford Hospice Society & Holmberg House. The work they do inspires me. #IamValley pic.twitter.com/9K0KAWZQ1K
— Rob Fai (@RobFai) June 8, 2021
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Brempong represented Canada on the international stage as part of the senior men’s program for more than eight years and played professionally in Germany, Holland and Canada. He played college basketball at Western Carolina University and retired in 2019 after the Bandits inaugural season. He played nine games and averaged 3.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in his final pro season.
Chand began her broadcasting career as a traffic anchor on AM730. In her five years with the station, she also covered the BC Lions, Vancouver Whitecaps and NCAA March Madness Tournament for sister station 980 CKNW. She made her national television debut on NBA TV Canada’s The Hangout during the 2014 NBA Finals. She also worked as a field reporter for the Vancouver Canadians in 2017.
From there, Chand joined TSN 1040 as a host and producer. As host and creator of The Home Stretch, Chand became the first-ever woman to host her own sports radio talk show on the platform. She has also worked as a sideline reporter for the National Lacrosse League’s Vancouver Warriors since 2018.
The Bandits open the season in Edmonton on June 24 and then host the Saskatchewan Rattlers for the club’s home opener on June 26.
