More and more New Brunswick youth are choosing the game of basketball.
Basketball New Brunswick Executive Director Tyler Slipp says they peaked in 2019 after the Toronto Raptors won the NBA championship…
But then the pandemic hit, “Thankfully since that ended about two seasons ago, we’ve seen steady growth last year in our minor associations around the province. This year the full numbers aren’t in yet but it’s looking like another healthy increase based on anecdotal news from people,” Slipp says.
He adds they primarily are seeing both males and females between the ages of 7 and 14 years old in the core of their minor Association programming, and numbers are up across the Board.
As to whether New Brunswick is an anomaly when it comes to growth, compared to other provinces, Slipp says he is meeting with other organization leads across the country this week and player numbers are one of the topics they’ll be discussing.
“One of the themes has just been population growth. We’ve seen that theme across different parts and sectors of the province but sports have not been immune to that and it’s great,” Slipp says.
He also credits their junior NBA program, administered through Canada Basketball and NBA Canada.
“It’s just a really well-run program that gets kids starting in a really fun and enjoyable way. We’ve seen big boosts to numbers in places that are using that program. I think that’s had the effect of carrying on kids with a love of the game that they take and carry with them as they grow up,” Slipp stated.
He also says basketball has traditionally been one of the more affordable sports because all you need is a pair of shoes and a basketball.
“You don’t even need your own basketball. You need one for a team so it’s always been one of the most economical sports to get into and to try. Especially since we use schools around the province as our facilities. Traditionally that has meant that costs have been pretty low to get into basketball,” Slipp adds.
If you’d like to try the sport, you can head to basketball.nb.ca for more information.
