Countdown to ANBT 61 Tip off just days away

The time has moved pretty fast the last few weeks as the final preparations for the All Native Basketball Tournament have come together and Sunday, the 61st edition of the largest event to arrive in Prince Rupert each year gets ready for tip off.

The teams and fans will shortly be arriving in town, filling hotels, adding to busy restaurants and stopping in at any number of local stores and services through the course of the week long tournament and celebration of First Nations.

The first item of note for the participating teams comes on Saturday with the coach's meeting, where coaches and managers gather for the final run through of the event, that session is set for the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre.

Sunday makes for the opening ceremonies, an evening in the Russell Gamble Gymnasium which will get underway at 8PM.

It's a most special an event as anyone who has witnessed or participated in it can tell you, setting as it does for the tone for the week of basketball and celebrates the participants from Indigenous communities across the province and beyond.

A look at the four brackets for play for the week to come can be reviewed below:

The Women's division will launch the tournament on Sunday morning with Gitwinksihlkw and Greenville taking to the court at 8AM in the icebreaker to the week of play.

Also getting a head start on tournament week will be the Masters who begin their journey to February 15th with Kincolith and Kitkatla  on the court at 2:30 PM

The Intermediate Division will see Hazelton and Lax Kw'alaams tip things off Monday at 8AM.

For the Senior Men, the wake up calls come a bit later Monday morning, with the first of the divisinal play set for 11 AM as New Aiyansh and Massett showcase their stuff in the Main Gym.

From the first play of the  four openings, the action will be non stop for all four brackets, the Civic Centre and Arena the destinations for the basketball; the Auditorium the host venue for the crafts, food and other elements that will make for the upcoming celebrations.

And as it seems to be in recent years, the pre-tournament period is being taken up by some controversy, with the ANBT Committee reportedly banning some elements of the media from the event, other than than those who work with the host broadcaster CFNR.

The CBC provided some background on the ban this morning, noting how the move is somehow designed to reduce the amount of politics and controversies of the past, themes that the media would address as part of their coverage of the scoring plays and athlete profiles.

So far, the only comment that All Native Basketball Tournament organizers have issued on the theme is a short note posted on their Facebook page this morning,  advising that all "sports" reporters are welcome to attend the event.

Though it's somewhat hard to see how the organizers attempt at what appears to be a form of censorship, can stop journalists or broadcasters from dropping into the Civic Centre and gaining background from the event during the course of the weekend.

As the results begin to arrive following the first games of play we'll add to our notes, as best we can,  with a Results page to track the path to the Saturday finales of the 15h February.

You can find the latest tournament notes from the ANBT through their Facebook page here.

Our archive for the tournament can be found here, hosting our past items and any past and new items from media across the region.