Now entering its third year, the P.G. Summer Hoops Classic three-on-three high school basketball tournament is growing into a major event on the local sports and community calendar.
For this year's tournament, June 10-11 at Duchess Park secondary school, organizers are capping registration at 48 teams - 12 each in junior and senior boys and junior and senior girls divisions. Should that overall number be reached, it would compare to 20 teams in the first year and 24 last year.
The Summer Hoops Classic doubles as a fundraiser for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of B.C. & Yukon, and the amount contributed each year has also jumped considerably - from a little more than $7,000 in Year 1 to $17,005 last year.
"I'm excited," said Nav Parmar, who spearheads the tournament and draws on support from a group that includes Sunny Brar, Kap Manhas, Nav Mann, B Mann, Ryan Lidder and Gary Gill. "I think we've established ourselves now as a pretty successful tournament and fundraiser so the pressure's on now to keep building on it."
The inaugural Summer Hoops Classic featured boys teams only - 12 in the senior division and eight in the junior category. Last year, 18 boys teams (10 senior, eight junior) were joined by six senior girls squads. In the months that followed the 2016 event, it was recognized by the Healthier You Awards as the Youth Initiative of the Year.
"Just being nominated was more than enough for us but to actually win it shows how much work the entire team has put in over the last three years, and it's benefiting the community," Parmar said. "That's what you want - you want to be a prominent member of society and make a difference in a positive way. I think we're accomplishing that. There's still a lot of work to be done but I think we're headed in the right direction."
With the tournament's rising profile, sponsorship dollars are coming from new places.
"We've got brand new companies involved - companies are starting to come to us in hopes of sponsorship, which is awesome because that was our goal from the very start," Parmar said. "Once we'd established ourselves as a prominent tournament and a local fundraiser, we wanted to get to the point where people were coming to us in hopes of getting involved."
This year's junior girls division is part of the evolution of the Summer Hoops Classic. Depending on registration numbers, Parmar said junior and senior girls may play in a single group.
For registration or sponsorship information, contact Parmar at 250-301-9995. The registration deadline is Friday.
