TRAINING from Spring into summer, these boys dedicated their time and efforts to basketball. Winnipeg NABA took five teams to particpate in the annual 30th NABA Tournament held in Manheim, PA. Tykes, a young group of boys battling the courts in NABA, was surprised at the skill the other teams displayed although they did not give up and they played hard to score points. Starting at this age only grooms them to become stronger players in the future. The Peewee division, which consisted of 17 teams, dominated its rival and bagged the trophy. This group of boys who are also new to NABA (Coached by Eric Fernandez) are tough but the competition during the weekend was tougher having played against Central Jersey, Toronto, Vaughn and New York. We hope they set their mind to playing again and determined to get a trophy from this tournament in the future. Having found out Coach Riley had 14 teams in the Bantam division made the situation more challenging from the start. This team had lots of skill, speed and height although when we got into the court, we came short a point or 2 to win the game, and although we lost, it’s all worth the fun. They fell behind in the first half but they pulled themselves out but wasn’t enough for us to get the victory. Overall they did a great job representing Winnipeg. They are a tough nut to crack. The Juniors had a dozen teams to beat, again each game played was short of 1-2 points for the win. It got heated on the court at times but the referees kept it cool. It’s not easy to really claim it and just miss it by a point or 2. But Coach Jai would say, there’s always next year to come back strong. Coach Angel gave his farewell speech to these young men at the beginning of the tournament to concentrate on his sons’ team in the years ahead. The best thing that happened was a farewell championship trophy these boys gave to him from this tournament. It wasn’t easy getting through 3 buzzer-beaters, an overtime game and such tough/rough competition from the 7 teams they had to play to get the gold. Congratulations boys! Well done! Many thanks to our sponsors, parents, players and especially to the coaches for spending the time with these boys. They couldn’t have done it without all of you! Hope to see you again in the NABA Montreal 2018!
