The qualifying results are in and the playing field for the 2015 All Native Basketball Tournament (ANBT) is set.
In the Seniors’ Division, Skidegate, Ahousat, Kincolith, Bella Bella, Prince Rupert, Port Simpson, Kitamaat, New Aiyansh, Masset, Greenville, Kitkatla, Terrace, Vancouver and Gitanyow are all set to take part in the tourney with Hartley Bay as first standby and Metlakatla Alaska (AK) as the second.
For the women’s tournament, Metlakatla B.C., Nanaimo, Kitamaat, Greenville, Gitwinksihlkw, Rain, Tofino, Bella Coola, Vancouver, Massett, Hazelton, Bella Bella, New Aiyansh and Kamloops are confirmed to be participants and Hesquiaht, Kitkatla, Port Simpson and Ahousat will be standbys from first to fourth respectively.
In the Intermediate Division, Skidegate, Prince Rupert, Hesquiaht, Bella Bella, Hazelton, Kincolith, Kitkatla, Port Simpson, Masset, Metlakatla AK, Hartley Bay and Gitwinksihlkw are attendees with Greenville as the division’s first standby.
For the Master’s Division, Masset, Bella Bella, Kincolith, Kitamaat, Gitwinksihlkw, Prince Rupert, Kitkatla, New Aiyansh, Port Simpson and Greenville are all confirmed as participants with Hydaburg AK as first standby and Metlakatla AK as second standby.
Changes to this year’s qualifying format has the committee taking out the discretionary spot and adding a third team in each division from the qualifying tournament.
For the standby positions, there are no limits to number of teams that can be on the list, but ANBT president Peter Haugan stated teams should have reasonable expectations if they’re quite far down.
“There isn’t [a limit] but you have to know that if you’re third on the list, you’re probably not going to get in,” he said last week.
To get on the standby list, teams must contact the ANBT with intent to play, and it’s first-come, first-serve if those teams hadn’t indicated either their intent to play prior to November’s qualifying tournament or participated in it.
“So this year, the Masters only had three teams [expected for qualifying] so we just put them all in the tournament. Now we have two more teams on that list – one’s Hydaburg AK, one’s Metlakatla AK – that had asked us after qualifying about being on the standby list so whoever asks us just goes on the list,” said Haugan, adding that an excess of teams in the qualifying also gets teams on the standby list (for example, the women’s Hesquiaht team came in fourth in the qualifying tournament, so they get the first standby slot).
“We probably have one or two teams drop out per year [enabling the standby teams to play],” said the tournament president.
