The Richmond contingent heading to Cowichan later this month for the B.C. Summer Games will be well-represented in a sport surging in popularity.
Ten of the city’s 53 athletes going to Vancouver Island will be participating in the boys 3-on-3 basketball competition.
This version of hoops will be included in the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Toyko and has been embraced by the Richmond Youth Basketball League (RYBL). The 10 players will be divided into teams of five with three on the court and two rotating in as subs.
The group includes RYBL players Wesley Ainu’u, David Kristoff Dillague, Kyle Hill, Zachary Kennedy, Josh Mayan, Kaden Nelson, Owen Strang and Benjamin Worthington-White. They are joined by Gavin Cameron and Zach Zapanta.
They will be coached in Cowichan by Chris Kennedy, Ben Mayan and Shawn Hill.
This promising talent will be spread across the city at the high school level next season with the kids headed to five different schools in total — Steveston-London, Palmer, McMath, McRoberts and McNeill.
Vancouver Coastal Zone teams finished fourth and fifth at the previous B.C. Summer Games in 2016 and a podium finish is well within reach this time.
That was proven at the recent Western Canada Invitational at SFU where the Richmond boys won all four of their games — highlighted by a 57-41 victory over the Vernon Bulldogs in the final.