While road and weather conditions may have given organizers of this years All Native Basketball Tournament a few sleepless nights, as we head into the weekend and the start of play on Sunday, the roads are open, the skies have cleared and traffic has begun to stream into Prince Rupert as one of the biggest events on the local scene gets ready to take to the court of the Russell Gamble Gymnasium.
As those arriving for the tournament settle in for their stay, the coaches and Managers have some early tournament work ahead of them, with the Coaches and Managers meeting set for Saturday night at 7 PM in the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre Auditorium
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| Prince Rupert's Jim Ciccone Civic Centre will be the hub of the city for the next seven days, with the Russell Gamble Gymnasium serving as the centre of all the action from the 2018 ANBT |
Sunday makes for the tournament icebreaker games, as the Ladies Division begins play, leading up to what is always one of the most memorable events of the six day tournament, that of the Opening Ceremonies.
The official Opening Ceremony for edition number 59 of the annual tourney will start at 8PM, with doors opening at 7PM.
The Sunday night event providing for one of the hardest to get tickets for the week, rivalling those for the Tournament finales of next Saturday.
This years featured dancers will be from Gingolx and they will make for the signature event of the week and official welcome for participants and fans from all corners of British Columbia and from our neighbours to the north in Alaska.
Among the many memorable moments to come from the opening will be the parade of the athletes as they enter the Russel Gamble Gymnasium and their respective fans celebrate their arrival.
Tickets for the Opening ceremonies, if any are still available, can be purchased for ten dollars from the ANBT office at 259 - Third Avenue West, directly across from CityWest.
Those who have purchased tournament passes, should note that they still require a separate ticket to
attend the Sunday Night opening event.
Those looking to attend the games of tournament week can take advantage of a number of options ranging from a Tournament pass to single day passes. You can find out more about ticket availability by contacting the ANBT office at 250-627-8997.
Once the ladies have led the way with the Sunday openers, the remainder of the field in all divisions will start to see action on Monday.
With the tournament kicking into high gear and non stop action from early morning to late into the evening through the week.
Matches are set for the Gymnasium and Arena and you can review the Draws for each division from our preview page here.
Another highly anticipated event as part of the All Native Tourney week is the Hall of Fame night, which will see five more members enshrined into Hall for 2018.
The ANBT organizing committee met in late October of 2017 and selected the five newest members to be included as part of the 2018 Tournament ceremony.
Those to be celebrated this year include:
Tracy Cochrane (player)
Deanna Smith Gray (player)
Ellis Ross (player)
Wes Nyce (player)
Arnie Bellis (coach)
While in the past, the Hall of Fame night was reserved for Friday, the ANBT Board announced last year that the Ceremony to commemorate those who helped to build the tournament will take place on the Wednesday night of the tournament.
Updates on Tournament developments can be found on the ANBT Facebook Page organizers also have some background on the tournament, including a number of photos from the past, available on the ANBT website.
You might even come across a few notes on the tournament action through Twitter, with #ANBT the hashtag of note for this years competition.
As they have in past years, CFNR will be holding the role as host broadcaster for the tournament with play by play of game day action, as well as features on those participating in this years event both on the court and from the many other events that take place during the tournament week.
The annual reunion here on the North Coast is already underway, as a quick trip through the downtown area will show. With many of those making the trip to Prince Rupert already making an impact on the city's hotels, restaurants, shopping options and entertainment offerings.
Included in all of that is a sudden shift in the nature of traffic in the community with downtown streets much busier over the course of the next week than they normally are at other times of the winter months.
That is something for both motorists and pedestrians to take note of over the course of the next seven days, to ensure that everyone stays safe.
Once the teams tip off at centre court and the tournament is underway we will be updating our Tournament Results page regularly, as we strive to keep our readers up to date with the flow of results from all divisions through the week.
Our Results page, will also be anchored on our Tournament Archive Page, the Results listings will go live on Sunday and when it does you can click here for updates.
Our All Native Tournament Page can also be found as part of our North Coast Review Extra Edition feature, located as part of our right hand column of information links.
Our Archive page for this years event, features a range of items about this years tournament, it already has a number of items from across the Northwest and beyond about teams and other stories of interest that will shape the next seven days in Prince Rupert.
To review those notes click here.
For those visiting the city from afar, enjoy your stay and the action ahead, if the past is any indication, basketball fans once again will be taking in some high tempo games and at some point by Friday new stories and perhaps even a few new legends will be found on the hardwood at the Russel Gamble Gymnasium.
To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.
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