The sizzling summer of sport in Richmond continues this weekend with the return of the legend that is the Dolphin Basketball Classic.
The fabled 4v4 tournament is being held for the 35th time, with South Arm Park once again playing host to some of the region’s best basketball players.
Play tips off at 5 p.m. on Friday, July 22 and flows right through to the men’s final at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Like most major sporting events, the Dolphin has been sidelined since the summer of 2019 due to the pandemic.
But, according to one of the tournament’s organizers, Bruce Watson, the event has not taken a hit in terms of sponsorship and the desire from players to get back on the court.
Everyone excited to see Dolphin Classic return
“When we started reaching out, the vast majority were very excited for the return,” said Watson of the sponsors.
“We don’t appear to have lost any momentum and I’ve been fueled by their energy and that of the teams desperate to come back.
“Teams do age out and this three-year gap means more have aged out than normal. But there is a vibrant basketball community here and I think we’re going to have even more teams this year.”
Watson said the brand new courts at South Arm Community Centre will add an extra edge to proceedings, although, until the schedule came out Monday, he is “never quite sure who’s going to show up.”
He added that reigning men’s champions G2 “always do a good job of recruiting players, as do former champs the X Falcons.
And Watson said he was excited to have seven women’s teams competing, which equals the “most we’ve ever had.”
The tournament is free to watch and there is, as ever, a beer garden and food concessions, as well as the very popular dunk & 3-point contests.
Another colourful sideshow to the tournament will be the Pink Whistle initiative, where the referees wear pink and black striped jerseys and use pink whistles.
It’s all in an effort to help raise awareness of the Pink Whistle Cancer Fundraising Campaign, where BC Basketball Officials have raised over $162,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation.
For more information on the Pink Whistle initiative go to https://www.basketball.bc.ca/2022-pink-whistle-campaign . For the full tournament schedule, go to https://www.facebook.com/dolphinbasketball/
