When Heritage Woods coaches Chris Martin and Greg Schellenberg launched the Kodiak Klassic AAA basketball tournament back in 2010, they thought it would be a good opportunity to see how their players stacked up against the region’s top talent.
Fast-forward six years and the event has taken on a life of its own.
With the demise of several other major tournaments in the area, coaches from across Metro Vancouver — and even around the world — now have the Klassic marked on their calendars.
“Now we have teams contacting us,” said Schellenberg. “I just had an email last week from a coach in Portland. They have heard about the tournament and want to bring their guys up.”
So far, the team that has travelled the furthest was an Australian club that participated in the tournament two years ago. But the Klassic also features a lot of Metro Vancouver schools as well, including Vancouver College, Kitsilano secondary and locals Terry Fox and Port Moody.
Under the rules set out by the B.C. High School Boys Basketball Association, teams cannot play games before December. That makes the tournament an excellent opportunity for coaches to see how their rosters stand up in exhibition competition.
While MVP honours and tournament banners are on the line, there is also $5,000 worth of scholarship money available to five chosen athletes. The money is donated by parents and alums and go to athletes that demonstrate basketball ability, a good academic performance and volunteer work in the community.
The bursaries started in 2015 and both Martin and Schellenberg said it was one of the highlights of the tournament.
“Last year was the first year we did it and it was really cool to see,” Martin said. “They were genuinely touched.”
As a newer school in the region, Heritage Woods may not have the long sports history as some of the older institutions in the area, but Martin and Schellenberg said the tournament is helping to put their program on the map.
“We are trying to build that,” said Schellenberg. “We would love to have the same support that those storied programs have — we would just love to get to that point.”
Judging by the last couple of Kodiak Klassics, Martin and Schellenberg are on the way to achieving their goal.
Last year’s finals had between 800 and 900 and the tournament kicks off with a mid-day game between Heritage Woods and another school that usually packs the gym.
This year, the club will take on Kelowna secondary in Game 1, a match that Martin said his team has been preparing for since the beginning of the school year.
“The guys felt bad after losing in front of their crowd last year,” he said. “This year there has been a lot of talk in practice about work ethic and preparing for Kelowna… It is going to be a tough game for us but hopefully they will rise to the occasion.”
Terry Fox and Port Moody are also playing in this year’s tournament.
The Ravens will take on Oak Bay at the Heritage Woods gym (1300 David Ave.) at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday (Dec. 1), while Port Moody will play Kitsilano at Port Moody (300 Albert St.) at 8:30 a.m. on the same day. The semifinals will be held at Heritage Woods on Friday (Dec. 2) at 7 p.m. and 8:45 and the championship game will take place at 8:45 p.m. on Saturday (Dec. 3). Admission is $3 for students and $5 for adults.
For a complete tournmanet schedule and up-to-date results, go to kodiakklassic.ca.
sports@tricitynews.com
