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Saskatoon’s Victoria Park will be busy this August.
On Wednesday, Discover Saskatoon announced the FIBA 3×3 women’s basketball series will be coming to the Bridge City along with a new event called the YXE Urban Games.
The three-on-three tournament will feature the best women’s teams in the world. One of those teams features Humboldt’s Paige Crozon.
Crozon is on a team that features long-time Canadian team members and sisters Michelle and Katherine Plouffe, along with Kacie Bosch.
Crozon’s team is currently ranked sixth in the world and will be looking to qualify for the Paris Olympics later this summer at qualifying tournaments in either Japan or Hungary.
Former Team Saskatoon 3×3 player Michael Linklater is hopeful that by having the women come to Saskatoon and giving Crozon a chance to play in front of her home fans, it can help grow the game locally.
“I think anytime we can bring any sporting events where we can have our youths see people who look like them compete, it gives them an opportunity to aspire,” Linklater said Wednesday.
“Paige said it best: If you see someone who looks like you doing something, you can aspire to that — and I’m a living example. When I was young looking up to Indigenous athletes, it gave me the opportunity to aspire to play at a high level.”
An official date for the tournament has not yet been set.
Saskatoon is the only Canadian stop on the women’s tour this year and tickets will go on sale closer to the event.
Discover Saskatoon CEO Steph Clovechok said this is a great event coming to the city during what is a slow time of year for the organization.
“The value of this event can’t be understated,” she said. “August is a very low season for our hotel partners, so we’ll see upwards of 500 room nights for a period of three to five days.”
The three-on-three tournament will take place at the same time as the brand new YXE Urban Games.
Linklater is also in charge of that and suggests it will give people from Saskatchewan and neighbouring provinces exposure to some lesser-known sports.
“I think the Urban Games showcasing a lot of these sports is also going to show the accessibility for athletes that may not want to play the main sports (hockey, soccer, basketball) but could be doing something else instead. I’m really excited to see what this all entails,” he said.
Linklater suggests there will be five to 10 different sports taking place at the same time as the 3×3 tournament.
Those sports could feature flag football, parkour and wakeboarding, but Linklater said nothing has been confirmed yet.
Linklater hopes this will engage the younger population throughout the province and suggests most of these events could take place in Victoria Park next to the 3×3 tournament.
“That will be the central hub. We’re going to have some off-site places that are close by, but that will be in regards to infrastructure and what those sports are going to require,” he said. “We’re going to try keep it central to the main park.”
More details on the YXE Urban Games will be released in the future.
