CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI – Mayor Clifford Lee, Tourism Charlottetown President, Kevin Murphy and Basketball PEI President, Gary Dunning, announced that the 2008 Canada Basketball U-17 Men’s & Women’s National Championships will be hosted in Charlottetown, where great things happen.
The Championships will be held over six days from August 18th-23rd, featuring 24 of the top U-17 teams from each of Canada’s provinces and territories. The Championships will be held at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre at the University of Prince Edward Island and the Charlottetown Rural High School gymnasium.
“It is with great pleasure that we award Basketball PEI and city of Charlottetown with the hosting rights to the 2008 Juvenile Men’s and Women’s National Championships”, said Canada Basketball Executive Director and C.E.O., Wayne Parrish. “As one of our signature events, the National Championships delivers an exciting week of competition featuring top young basketball players from across Canada, and we are delighted to bring this tournament to the east coast.”
“Basketball PEI is very happy to have the opportunity to host the best U-17 basketball players in Canada for these national championships,” said Gary Dunning. “This will be a great event in the lead up to the 2009 Canada Games basketball championships, which uses the same age group in their competition. Having our PEI teams playing at home in a major competition will be a big help in their development. This is a win for everyone involved.”
The Championships allow the 350 plus athletes from all provinces and territories to compete in a national forum where they can showcase their talent and ability, while vying for championship titles. The Championships also facilitate the identification of athletes for involvement in national team programming, in addition to serving as a 2009 Canada Games test event.
“It’s tremendously gratifying for Charlottetown to be recently acknowledged as a leading sport tourism destination by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance,” said Mayor Lee. The Capital City has
enjoyed much success by hosting numerous major sporting events like the 2008 Canada Basketball U-17 Men’s & Women’s National Championships. Our community is looking forward to very successful and memorable Championships, with all of the excitement associated with a pre-Canada Games year.”
“The tourism and economic benefits from hosting sporting events are impressive,” stated Kevin Murphy. “The attraction of major sporting events such as these Championships are supported by the efforts of SCORE and the Tourism Accommodation Levy through SERF, along with great community partnerships with organizations like Basketball PEI.”
SCORE, with partners, continually pursues opportunities for Charlottetown to host regional, national and international sporting events. The City of Charlottetown and Tourism Charlottetown recognize the value of the events sector and has placed high priority on sporting events to stimulate tourism, economic and community growth.
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