By Ross Wedlake
On behalf of the entire board and all of our staff, I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one in our extended basketball community a very Happy New Year. At this time, it is common for people to make what are usually called "resolutions". Instead, I thought I would list some things that I would like to see happen for basketball in Manitoba in 2016. In no specific order, here goes :
- 2016 sees the organizers of all youth leagues come together in a spirit of cooperation – we have too many youth leagues competing with each other for teams and players – we all need to put aside our egos (or whatever else drives us as adults) for the betterment of the game and all young players
- 2016 sees revised plans for the new Dakota Community Fieldhouse to include hardwood on the three courts instead of the proposed synthetic surface
- 2016 sees all of our top players making the decision to be members of our summer provincial teams – 15U and 17U male and female – leading to continued success for Teams Toba at the national championships
- 2016 sees the multi-court facility being discussed for the Maples area continue to a point where concrete plans begin to be developed
- 2016 sees an increase in female participation in basketball throughout the province – players, coaches and officials
I would love to hear from any members with comments below on my list and others that could/should be added.
Ross Wedlake
President
Basketball Manitoba