The Maritime Women’s Basketball Association (MWBA) is gearing up for its third season.
It comes on the heels of the first Battle at the Border tournament that took place in St. Stephen last weekend.
“If you look back over the history as we go into the third year, did we think we would get to year three? We weren’t sure, but here we are and it just seems to be getting bigger in many different ways,” founder Brad Janes said in an interview.
Four New Brunswick and three Nova Scotia teams make up the association, with up to 14 players who currently or previously played for Canadian colleges and universities.
- Port City Fog (Saint John)
- Moncton Mystics
- Fredericton Freeze
- Miramichi Her-icanes
- Lake City 56ers
- Halifax Hornets
- Halifax Thunder
MWBA’s schedule will see each team play 10 games between May 4 and mid-June, followed by the playoffs. The Halifax Thunder are the defending Legacy Cup champions.
“There is a lot of physicality, the skill sets are off the charts, and the games are very close. There are very few blowouts in the MWBA and I think that just shows the parody of the league across the seven teams,” said Janes.
“You go to the game and you leave smiling and I think one of the things the MWBA is really pushing towards in all seven locations is that family atmosphere, where parents and children who are looking up to our athletes. I think that is really taking hold.”
Janes said tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for seniors/students, and free for those under 14. Teams also have different season ticket packages.
The MWBA started in early 2022 when long-time Basketball New Brunswick coach Paul Hickey held a Zoom video conference call with several guest coaches and speakers from around the basketball world.
One of his guests was Lisa Thomaidis, head coach for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and the Canadian Women’s National Basketball team. During her guest appearance, Thomaidis said Canada is supplying more and more top-level talent, however, it’s the only country sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) that does not have a professional women’s basketball league.
Janes reached out to Thomaidis and discussed creating a pro league in Canada. Many phone calls, emails, texts, and messages were bandied about in mid-spring, and interest suddenly started to spread.
‘Travel was critical in the initial stages so the league was designed to keep things in a pretty tight regional scenario to start when you consider expenses such as hotels, gas and meals. We believe we have the makings of some good rivalries,” said Janes.
