A tradition almost as old as Rupert itself is back for its 2015 season.
The Prince Rupert Minor Basketball Association (PRMBA) kicked things off with a full slate of games on the weekend – the city’s first Saturday and Sunday filled with organized hoops since the Best in the West tournament finished up in April.
“We have about 170 – 175 players this year,” said PRMBA president Gerard Dolan last week.
“When the league is maxed out, we have 196, but the Grade 9/10 division never really fills up. I think that’s a pretty average number for us.”
PRMBA is divided up into four divisions, with four teams in each.
The first is the Grade 3-4 group, who play their ball from 10:30 a.m. to noon every Saturday, followed by the Grade 5-6 class, who play from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays.
The Grade 7-8 division plays weekly games from 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. and the Grade 9-10 group plays from 2:30 p.m. until 4 p.m. on Sundays.
“Each team has one practice and one game per week. All 16 teams practice on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Fridays, except for the Grade 9/10 players, who only play their weekend games.
As usual, a mid-season PRMBA tournament will take place in mid-October for every division.
“It’s October 17-18. We schedule it for two days, but quite conceivably we might just go to one day. As it gets closer, if we find out there’s a swim meet or a hockey tournament and a volleyball play day, we might just have it on one day,” said Dolan.
Additionally, the season will end a tad earlier than what tradition dictates thanks to the busy December schedules of North Coast youth.
“The year-end tournament is in the first week of December,” said the president, adding that hockey, volleyball and swimming often clash with the second week of the last month of the year.
However, the PRMBA is looking for more support on the executive as many members of the decision-making body will be moving on next year.
While the organization has the coaches and refs pegged in, the PRMBA need interested parents or Rupert residents to help promote sponsorship and arrange schedules and registration for next year.