Basketball fans will have plenty to cheer about starting Sunday as the 53rd annual All Native Basketball Tournament gets underway at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre.
This year there will be 52 teams competing in four different divisions - including 12 women’s teams, 15 intermediate teams, 14 senior teams and 11 masters teams. All of the champions from the champions from the 2011 tournament - the Haisla intermediates and women, the Hydaburg seniors and the Bella Bella Masters - will be looking to repeat as champions in their respective divisions.
This year there will be three people inducted into the All Native Basketball Tournament Hall of Fame. Willis Parnell, a committee member and three-time MVP who retired this October after a career that spanned more than two decades, will be inducted for his play. Nelson Morven Senior, one of the original Prince Rupert Chiefs, will be inducted as well. The final inductee into the Hall of Fame will be Doug Sankey, who coached the intermediate champions in the 1960 tournament and who has also served as a referee and is a life-long fan of the tournament.
The Prince Rupert Northern View will be posting daily updates on our website at www.thenorthernview.com beginning on Sunday night. Those updates will continue throughout the week and wrap up when the champions are crowned.