By Lindsay Ruck
With 9,730 fans rocking Scotiabank Place for the MBNA Capital Hoops Classic, there is no doubt basketball’s popularity in Ottawa is on the rise.
The event was used as a test run for 2008, when the CIS men’s basketball championship will come to Ottawa. It has been held n Halifax, N.S. for the past 23 years.
Marg McGregor, CEO of Canadian Interuniversity Sport, says the tournament will not just attract the loyal basketball fans.
“I think the Capital Hoops Classic was a great opportunity for people who had not seen university basketball before to be exposed to the exciting product,” she says. “No doubt there will be more fans who are interested in returning to see another game.”
Drew Love, Carleton University’s athletics director, says many fans watching the Carleton games are new spectators.
“I think probably 50 per cent of the attendance we’ve seen this year is first-time and we’re hoping that will continue next year,” says Love.
“We’ll promote the nationals and we’ll try to bring in crowds that are even bigger than 10,000 per tournament game. Through that we’ll continue to build an interest for the long term for basketball in the region.”
Lisa Crack, sports co-ordinator for Ottawa’s Metro Central YMCA/YWCA, has seen the sport’s rising popularity first hand.
The YMCA’s basketball program had its highest numbers this session, with one of its competitive leagues completely full and another near capacity.
“Anytime there’s an open gym at the Y, it’s basketball,” Crack says. “It’s majority rule and there’s always people here playing ball.”
Ottawa residents are not the only ones recognizing the impact of basketball in the city. Opposing teams are also taking notice.
The University of Brock men’s basketball team ended Carleton’s remarkable 87-game winning streak in last year’s regular season. Ken Murray, the Badgers’ head coach, says it was a proud moment for the team.
“It was a great sense of accomplishment when we ended Carleton’s win streak. We know we had one of the best teams in the country. I think most teams use Carleton as their measuring stick as to how good they are.”
Murray says both the University of Ottawa Gee Gees and the Ravens are always a challenge and require great preparation.
“With Carleton and Ottawa you can’t just prepare for one, you have to prepare for both,” he says. “It is the toughest weekend of basketball we face in the regular season.”
Love says one of the biggest indications of Ottawa’s new found interest in basketball was when Carleton’s old Norm Fenn Gym could no longer hold all the fans.
“Certainly in the last 10 years in my position as athletic director we’ve probably grown three-fold in our spectatorship,” he says.
The old gym was used for Carleton Raven’s home games until 2005, with seating for 600 people. On average, around 400 spectators attended the games.
The new Raven’s Nest can hold 1,350 people and Love estimates four or five games every year are sell-outs. Average attendance is about 1,200.
“The basketball community in Ottawa has grown immensely,” says Love.
“There are thousands of students or children playing the game of basketball in community clubs and groups in the Ottawa area. The grassroots game of basketball has picked up significantly in Eastern Ontario.”
With this growth, Crack says the community league has changed during the last couple of years.
“A few years ago you’d come in and see fights and a lot of aggression,” she says. “Now you just see them come out and play hard ball.”
But Crack is not afraid to go out on the court and show she has game, which encourages them to play tough but fair.
“I am out there every week playing with them,” she says.
“At first they thought I was kind of strict but now they know I’m here because I care.”
The Metro Central YMCA at 180 Argyle St. runs a competitive basketball league every Monday and Friday night.