Battle in the Valley Tournament Keeps Basketball Strong After 6 Years

Fort Qu’Appelle, SK – The annual Battle in the Valley basketball tournament continues to promote the growth and exposure of basketball in Fort Qu’Appelle and the surrounding community.

The sixth annual event saw local and visiting players and fans converge to the Bert Fox Community High School gymnasium from Feb. 20 – 22.

Throughout the years, the tournament has featured star players such as University of Saskatchewan Huskie alumnus Michael Linklater, who was a member of the tournament winning team Standing Buffalo/Xcite, and remarked at the level of competition the tournament attracts.

“You get a lot of university players and college players that are coming in from Alberta, Manitoba, (for example), it’s a good caliber tournament,” said Linklater.

Ryan Shordee said he organizes the annual tournament to promote and encourage the community involvement in basketball and remarked at how the tournament continues to grow each year.

“I’ve been playing basketball for years and years, it’s something I love, it’s my passion. I thought I would start hosting tournaments so more people would get involved with it,” said Shordee.

“It just seems every year more and more people are being interested in this basketball tournament,” said Shordee.

Myles Ledesma travelled the 850 kilometres from Edmonton to compete in his fifth Battle in the Valley tournament. Being from Standing Buffalo First Nation, and growing up in Regina, the annual event allows him to not only compete, but also a return home.

“It’s good to come out, see old friends, play basketball and have a good time,” said Ledesma.

One year ago, Myles and his teammates were champions of the tournament. This year, he and his teammates of team Lord of the Plains finished in third place. He mentioned the tournament is a great opportunity for younger players to learn from those who have played it their entire lives.

“For the players that are in (the tournament) and young, it gets them up to speed with older players. It gets them that experience so they can develop (their skills) and they know where they need to work on their game,” said Ledesma.

It’s a sentiment shared by Linklater, who has seen the growth of the game from within the participants over the years.

“When they come out and see all the top level players competing out here, what it does is actually inspires them to want to continue playing the game or even pick up a ball and start. There’s a few players that are playing in the tournament as men that used to come out and watch the tournament in the stands and now here they are competing and doing extremely well,” said Linklater.

Brayden Hamilton is a life-long friend of Shordee and over the years competed in and volunteered his time to the tournament. In addition he mentioned that the tournament has a positive impact on the community.

“We get, I’m going to say, over a 100 people in players alone to come into the valley, check out the valley, spend money in the valley,” said Hamilton.

“It’s bringing people to our nice little community,” he added.

Shordee stated he wants to continue holding the tournament in the future for many years as it gets people of all ages interested in the sport and will keep it alive in the valley.

“It has a huge positive impact on the community. Everybody being here, gathering, enjoying a good weekend of the sport of basketball. It brings a lot of people together watching everybody compete for the love of the game,” said Shordee.

– Story and Photos by Jarrett Crowe, RezXMag.com