issue 2 // volume 40

The rise of basketball in Canada

Casey Dulson
The Eyeopener

n the last couple of years,

Canada has become a
basketball factory. In such a
hockey-dominated country,
Canada has seen many of its
basketball players succeed in
the time leading up to their
NBA draft year.

The hype actually reached
its height over the past two
years. Last year marked a
historic year for Canadian
basketball as the Cleveland
Cavaliers selected Canadian
forward Anthony Bennett from
the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas with the first pick at
the NBA draft. Toronto-native

draft pick in this year’s draft,
after playing only one season at
the University of Kansas.

In the Canadian
Interuniversity Sports (CIS)
league, the Carleton Ravens
won their fourth consecutive
national championship and 10th
overall. The Ravens started their
season in late August as they
took on the Syracuse Orange,
one of the top university teams
in the US. The next day, they
beat the Wisconsin Badgers, a
team that made NCAA’s March

: Madness’ Final Four this year.

In this year’s NCAA

: tournament, there was a record
: 25 Canadians participating in

: the annual event. In the first

: round of the tournament,

: universities which had

: Canadians playing for them

: went 14-2.

Some of the Canadian stars

: who participated in this year’s
: March Madness were Syracuse’s_ :
: point guard Tyler Ennis, who

: has a good shot at being a top

: 10 pick in this year’s NBA draft,

: and Michigan Wolverines’

: shooting guard, Nik Stauskas,

: who led his Wolverines to the

: Elite Eight where they lost

: to the Kentucky Wildcats.

: Stauskas finished the game with
: 24 points.

Andrew Wiggins was also a high :

The surprising team

: of the tournament was the

: underdog Dayton Flyers, who

: marched to the Elite Eight in

: the tournament before losing

: to Florida. The Flyers were led

: by forward Dyshawn Pierre, a

: native of Whitby, Ont. Pierre

: established that he can be a star
: in the near future.

Many people have been

: questioning the rise in interest
: in Canadian basketball. Dwight
: Walton, a former member of

: the Canadian national team

: said that it is in part due to the

: Internet establishing a role in
: Canadian players getting more
: notice south of the border.

“Being able to show off your

: talent to coaches and scouts via
: YouTube is much quicker than

: sending a videotape via the mail
: service,’ Walton said.

Walton also believes that

a certain NBA team had an
: impact on kids wanting to play.

“The Toronto Raptors are

: the major reason that basketball
: has taken off in this country,”

: he said. “They’ve exposed the

: game to our youth.”

Sites like Basketball Buzz

: and On Point Basketball have
: been doing a good job raising
: awareness for CIS and NCAA
: basketball to Canadians.

Concordia Stingers men’s

: forward, Mukiya Post, is very

: hopeful about the success of

: Canadian basketball players this
: year.

“TCanadian| basketball is

: getting better from [a] young
: age,” he said.

Canada now must continue

: on to build on their success.
: The development of recent

: Canadian stars, like Wiggins
: and Bennett, is a step in the
: right direction, in order fora
: chance at a berth in the 2016
: Summer Olympics.

sports // 19

 

Canadian forward +d Anthony Bennett // By www.fancloud.com

 

The ultimate game

» Popular disc sport becoming legitimate

Cazzy Lewchuk
Staff Writer

 

he other day, I was

watching some teenagers at
the park play with a flying disc.
As I watched it glide around,

I wondered just why ultimate
seems to be getting bigger and
bigger. Then it hit me.

It’s acommon sight on high
school and college campuses
everywhere: a bunch of boys
and girls tossing a flying disc
around a grassy field. Many
high schools in the Lower
Mainland have an organized
ultimate team, and the sport is
played by college students and
older adults alike. In fact, the
Vancouver Ultimate League
has over 4,000 players, and two
professional teams exist in this
city alone.

Ultimate was invented in
the late 1960s and has steadily
grown since. The rules of the
game are similar to the rules
of football, except that it’s a
no-contact sport and played
with a flying disc instead of a

: ball. Basic zones can be set up
: in any reasonably sized field,

: allowing pickup games to be

: set up quickly.

What accounts for its

: massive popularity? Perhaps

: it’s the co-ed, accepting

: teamwork-based nature of the
: sport. Anyone who can throw
: a disc can play, and there’s a

: universal focus on the “Spirit

: of the Game.” The operations
: manager for Major League

: Ultimate’s (MLU) Vancouver

: Nighthawks, Brian Gisel, sums
: up the essence of ultimate

: culture as “very accessible and
: inclusionary.”

“Tt is often said that

: ‘Ultimate is a sport for jocks
: who hate jocks’...
: excelled or was interested in

: team sports past about the age
: of 12. The highly competitive

: nature of the players, coaches,

: and parents turned me off ina
: big way, and this isa common

: theme of how people find their
: way to ultimate. The nature

: of this sport it that you are

: not playing ‘against’ another

: team, you are playing ‘with’

: them. You play hard, you train,
: you are competitive, and you

I never

: want to win. But you cheer

: each other’s great plays, you

: never think about cheating to

: win, and you go out afterwards
: for drinks. There is a level of

: respect between everyone that
: transcends the simple ‘Win or
: lose’ mentality of most sports,”
: says Gisel.

Indeed, the inclusive

: nature of ultimate may be

: a gateway for many people

: getting involved with physical
: activity. At its heart, the

: sport is about fostering

: relationships, teamwork,

: and skill improvement—the

: essence of what all sports

: should be about. It’s simple,

: spirited, and solid. There’s no

: doubt the reign of ultimate will
: continue to inspire players for

: years to come. As Giesel puts

: it: “The sport is infectious, and
: because of that, the growth

: potential is almost limitless.

: The most exciting thing for me
: about ultimate now is thinking
: about just how big this little

: counter culture sport can

: become.”

Same here, Brian. The

: infection spreads.

 

Vancouver Nighthawks’ 2013 home opener
By Joshua BersonAwww.bcultimate.ca