Western Canada’s best soar above the rim in the Bow Valley
Tuesday May 06, 2008
Banff’s Jay Simpson recently returned to the top of the Peaks Invitational basketball tournament – the event’s 29th annual.
Simpson, also the Bow Valley Basketball League’s commissioner, played with the Sky Kings, a team with a large Calgary contingent, during the over-35 portion of the two-weekend event, which featured the over 35 mens division April 25-27 and the mens under 35 and women’s divisions May 2-4.
“Lots of guys see each other, maybe this is the only time they see each other all year, and the quality has always been high in Western Canada. There’s probably not too many other men’s tournaments past the organized structure of university where you would find overall better talent,” said Simpson, who has been playing in the tournament for the past 15 years.
“I’m probably the only guy on that team that didn’t (play university basketball).”
Twelve over 35 teams entered this year’s tournament, while 20 teams played last weekend.
Although the majority of Simpson’s team was over 35, the Sky Kings were competitive enough to play in the under 35 group until five years ago, when too many teams in the younger category forced the Sky Kings to the over 35 group.
Since switching divisions, the Sky Kings have won four of the past five tournaments.
In the men’s under 35 group, two Saskatchewan-based teams reached the final, with Ohanlan’s edging out the Skizziks 96-87.
In the women’s division Red Deer’s North Stars repeated as champions after beating the Calgary-based Monstars 65-53.
Ex-university team players filled up a lot of the teams, coming to the Bow Valley from all over western Canada, from B.C. to Saskatchewan.
“Some of these guys played university ball, they played against each other then, and then they never see each other until they see each other at this tournament every year,” Simpson said. “So there’s definitely catch-up, camaraderie.”
The Bow Valley contingent in the tourney was made up mostly of players from the area playing on visiting teams, although Canmore’s PJ Robertson spear-headed a Bow Valley team, patch-worked by University of Calgary players.
The Valley-based team won two games and lost won, eventually put out in the semi-finals against the Skizziks.
Because the skill level for the tournament is so high, no prize money is necessary, just the competition and a trophy, organizer Glenn Nelson said.
“It’s probably the best basketball being played in Canada next to the national team, because these guys are ex-university players, they’re older, they’re stronger, they’re faster, they may not be in as good a shape, but they’re men playing, they’re not young boys,” said Nelson, who is also the vice-principal at Canmore Collegiate High School.
“It was incredible basketball – it’s as close to professional as you can get probably in Canada.”
The skill level of the competition never ceases to amaze Nelson, especially since the high-caliber teams are basically just reunions from players with a wide range of experience.
“They’re all-star teams, and each team tries to pick up the best players for this tournament in western Canada, so you come up with some phenomenal players and teams, boy-o-boy,” Nelson said.
“There’s national team players that played for Canada, in the Olympics, in the women’s side and the men’s side.”
Nelson and Simpson agreed that the name of the game is a high level of competition, but also the camaraderie throughout the players, who have competed with and against each other for years.
“This is a fun way to get to the mountains for a couple of weekends and hang out and socialize in a beautiful environment, that’s what attracts (teams). It’s almost like sports tourism,” Nelson said.
“It’s a great way that basketball friendships are made, and the old friendships connected with, it’s a basketball fraternity. It’s not a huge fraternity, but the guys that are in it are pretty close to each other, because they do play against each other quite a bit.”
Publisher: Kim Oliver Proprietor and published by Bowes Publishers Limited at 201 Bear Street, Banff, Alberta, Canada T1L 1H2
