This page was exported from King Weekly Sentinel [ https://kingsentinel.com ] Export date:Thu Jul 18 5:25:27 2024 / +0000 GMT ___________________________________________________ Title: Basketball teams flock to Villanova --------------------------------------------------- Villanova College in King City was one of the many venues throughout York Region to host games for the U11 atom boys Ontario Cup tournament recently. On the Saturday afternoon, teams from Scarborough and Barrie went head to head at Villanova in a thrilling match that went right down to the wire, with Scarborough pulling ahead with a 32-29 victory. By Jeff Doner Basketball teams from all over Ontario flocked to York Region for the U11 atom boys Ontario Cup. The York North Basketball Association hosted the event, with games being played in local schools and recreation centres throughout the weekend. The event allowed King City's Villanova College a chance to showcase their top-notch facility, having hosted a series of games throughout the weekend. “It's been exciting for us and we've had a lot of good communications with the Ontario Basketball Association,” said Villanova president Paul Paradiso. “We have been trying to get up a relationship with the associations in the area in particular, because we think we have one of the best facilities around, especially for basketball. One of the reasons we put it together was to do it the right way and make sure we've got this facility available for community use.” Ontario Cup tournaments typically feature boys' and girls' from U10 to U19 and are some of the largest basketball events in North America. Approximately 60 teams, 700 athletes, and 150 coaches, officials and delegates were on hand at the various venues throughout the weekend. Paradiso said Villanova College was eager to get involved and show the basketball community how great their facility and programs are. “It's always about hopefully opening it up and making the community aware of our facilities here at the school and also the school programs that we offer.” He was also enthusiastic about the high level of competition in the tournament. “It's very good. I've been impressed with the youth basketball in this area in particular at these age divisions,” he said. “Even though this is division five, there are a lot of good skilled players. It's great to see so many young kids playing basketball nowadays. Obviously we're a hockey province, but with the house leagues and rep programs out here, there are some very good young players. The future is bright.” The tournament was also about growing the sport of basketball in York Region as a whole. Last fall, the YNBA received a two-year, $94,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to help deliver long-term player development programs to youth across York Region, buy new equipment and hire an event coordinator. This has also led to a successful bid by the YNBA to host and coordinate the U11 Championships in 2014 and 2015. According to an economic impact study by the OBA and the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA), the U16 Boys Ontario Cup in Ottawa last spring generated $1.3 million in the city and $1.9 million in the province. “YNBA is incredibly excited to take our turn at giving back to the basketball community by hosting 60 teams at the U11 Boys Ontario Cup Provincial Basketball Championships,” said YNBA president Jason Scott in a release. “We're here to serve our guest families as they enjoy our local culinary opportunities and welcoming business community. Welcome to York North. We are glad you are here. Good luck, play hard, work together, respect everyone involved with our games, and have fun.” As for Villanova, Paradiso said the school is gearing up for an exciting spring season and still has plenty going on before breaking for summer. For more information on the York North Basketball Association, visit www.ynba.ca. --------------------------------------------------- Images: --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt: Basketball teams from all over Ontario flocked to York Region for the U11 atom boys Ontario Cup. The York North Basketball Association hosted the event, with games being played in local schools and recreation centres throughout the weekend. --------------------------------------------------- Post date: 2014-04-08 15:32:21 Post date GMT: 2014-04-08 19:32:21 Post modified date: 2014-05-28 09:06:16 Post modified date GMT: 2014-05-28 13:06:16 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Export of Post and Page as text file has been powered by [ Universal Post Manager ] plugin from www.gconverters.com