Beach volleyball and basketball are becoming popular sports in North Bay, and a new event looks to capitalize on that.
The first ever Sunshine Games are coming to the city in August.
This combines a three-on-three basketball tournament with a beach volleyball tournament. Basketball Canada’s Senior Director of Operations Bryan Crawford says they hope this becomes a destination event. He says they want to grow this going forward and have it exist for a long period of time.
Crawford says they hope to expand it with other sports and components such as live music and really make it a festival atmosphere.
He says three-on-three basketball is a great entry point for the sport because it’s fast-paced, can be played anywhere. It allows younger kids to develop their skills with more opportunity to play.
The basketball tournament will be open for all participants in six different divisions; men’s and women’s open, men’s and women’s U19 and men’s and women’s U16.
He says the three-on-three game is growing on the international stage through FIBA (International Basketball Federation) with world championship tournaments played across the globe. Crawford adds one of the best teams at three-on-three is a team from Saskatoon made up of former university players who have gone on to compete in those world championship events.
On the volleyball side, president of Vision Volleyball Amedeo Bernardi says they are thrilled to host this event in the Gateway City. He says they are hoping to attract some top teams from across the country to play in this tournament. Bernardi says they have a lot of traction with some top teams after hosting the NORCECA and OVA Elite Grand Slam events the past couple of years.
Bernardi says an event of this scale was something he had always envisioned coming to North Bay when they opened the CANOR Molson Sand Centre, sitting right between the downtown and the waterfront.
The basketball tournament will be played on the pavement outside of Discovery North Bay.
The Sunshine Games is a partnership between Nipissing University Athletics, Vision Sports & Entertainment, the City of North Bay, Canada Basketball and Volleyball Canada.
