With just a few weeks left in the regular season, it’s a busy cricket weekend in Oak Bay. On Saturday, Aug. 12, the University team and the Colts face off at noon at the Windsor Park pitch. Come Sunday, Aug 13, Oak Bay hosts the Alcos, also at noon at Windsor Park.
There’s still time for Oak Bay cyclists to join Ryder Hesjedal’s Tour de Victoria, a mass participation cycling event Aug. 20 to promote and support cycling. While early bird specials have finished, you can still pay for any of the events until event day, with anyone under the age of 19 biking for free. Three route lengths are available and all travel local roads! For more information about registration, routes and more, visit: www.tourdevictoria.com.
Looking ahead, the University of Victoria and the Vikes welcome Canada’s NBA players, the Toronto Raptors, for their fall training camp at CARSA Sept. 26 to 29. A detailed schedule will be released later, however fans can mark Thursday, Sept. 28 on the calendar, when the Raptors will play an intrasquad game at the UVic sports facility. For more information, visit govikesgo.com.
Turning to regional sports, local lacrosse fans are cheering their boys in green in their quest for another Mann Cup. At the time of writing, the Victoria Shamrocks were leading their semi-final WLA series against the Burnaby Lakers 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 was schedule for the Q Centre Wednesday, Aug. 9, after press deadline, with Game 5 in Burnaby today (Friday, Aug. 11). Game 6, if necessary, returns to the Q Centre Sunday, Aug. 13 for a 6 p.m. start. The winner advances to the next round, so stay tuned to victoriashamrocks.com for updates.
The Victoria HarbourCats also head into playoffs this week, with the first few games after press deadline. Keep track of the action at
Looking ahead, the HarbourCats also host Canada’s best men’s baseball teams at Royal Athletic Park where up to five games a day at will be played as teams vie for the Canadian championship.
Tournament passes are on sale through the Victoria HarbourCats office, 1814 Vancouver St., or by phone at 778-265-0327.
Local hockey fans awaiting the start of the season have a few dates to mark on the calendar. The Victoria Cougars Junior B squad’s first two exhibition games of the season hit the ice later this month. The Cougars host the Saanich Braves at 7 p.m. Aug. 28 at Archie Browning Arena, then on Aug. 29, host the Kerry Park Islanders at 6 p.m., also at Archie Browning.
Colin Gall writes about coming local sports events.
