#RoadToNationals: Winnipeg Wolves

Hailing from near the geographical center of Canada, the Winnipeg Wolves are one of the many teams set to compete at Bballnationals. Started by former Canadian Olympian Martin Riley, the Wolves have numerous boys and girls teams that are among the best in Manitoba. The U15 team that will be at the Langley Events Centre is among them — they finished third in the U16 division of the Manitoba Basketball League as a U15 team, and were champions of the inaugural Manitoba Magic Tournament in October, 2017.

“Our team is an elite team in Manitoba club basketball but the competition in our age group is limited in terms of numbers of teams” said Chris Anderson on why is team is travelling to bballnationals. “We wanted to have the experience of traveling as a group to a tournament, but the main reason to come is to observe how other clubs operate and benchmark our own performance.

We are also interested in the exposure to University/College scouts that this tournament could offer, [and] we want to see a genuine Canadian club tournament evolve, grow, be sustainable and represent a true national championship.”

Anderson and the Wolves are also looking forward to assessing how they stand on the national club basketball scene as well as “meeting other players and networking with other coaching staffs to make Canadian club basketball better.

[It’s also] important to have a central gathering point for Canadian talent to be observed and assessed [and] important for individual clubs to set goals to become national champions." Spots are still available across all age levels for Bballnationals, with a roster deadline set for July 18th. The tournament starts on August 2nd at the Langley Events Centre. For more information, visit bballnationals.com.

Written by: Nick Bondi