Will there be a 2021 Tsumura Basketball Invitational in Langley?
Event founder Howard Tsumura is choosing to be optimistic.
An online post by Tsumura at varsityletters.ca announced plans for a two-week tournament at the Langley Events Centre in December, with the headline “hope springs eternal.”
READ ALSO: VIDEO: Tsumura Basketball Invitational begins at the Langley Events Centre
Because there was, thanks to the pandemic, no 2020-21 season, Tsumura decided “all 2020 TBI entrants can consider this their official invitation.”
Among the 40 teams on the list to win standing invitations are four from Langley: the Walnut Grove Gators boys’ team and three girls’ teams; Brookswood Bobcats, Langley Christian Lightning, and the Walnut Grove Gators girls team.
READ ALSO: Langley Christian Lightning finish third at Tsumura Basketball Invitational
Lightning took bronze at the 2019 edition of the Tsumura tournament, downing the Kelowna Owls 56-44.
The boys event is tentatively set to run Dec. 8 to Dec. 11 at the Langley Events Centre, while the girls 2021 TBI is tentatively set to run Dec. 15 to Dec. 18.
Tsumura, who handpicks the mix of top teams and honourable mentions, has said the event is “all about the best of B.C. basketball without tiers getting in the way.”
New rules implemented for the 2020 event stipulate that teams cannot be simultaneously entered in any other tournaments if they have agreed to take part in the 2021 Tsumura Basketball Invitational.
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