Event History

The Ladies Basketball Classic is a premier high school ladies basketball tournament held every December at the Moncton Coliseum in Moncton. The tournament showcases four Moncton area high school teams and endeavours to invite the best high school ladies basketball teams from Atlantic Canada, Maine and Quebec each and every year for a competitive and exciting eight team tournament. “My most favorite tournament...!” “...third year here and I still love it!" "Thanks for everything, hope to see you next year!”   Those are just some of the many comments included in the thank-you cards the organizing committee received from the participating teams at the conclusion of last year’s Classic. The comments speak to the anticipation the players have in participating in such a high calibre event. Over the 16 years the tournament has been held, teams have travelled from not only the Atlantic Provinces but also Quebec and Maine to participate. 2011 marks the 17th anniversary of the Ladies Basketball Classic, an event that got its start in a high school gymnasium but now calls the Moncton Coliseum home. For four days during the second week of December the Moncton Coliseum is transformed into a basketball venue that showcases the best high school players in Atlantic Canada. This a rare opportunity for high school players to compete in a coliseum setting as most high school tournaments are held in school gymnasiums. Over the years many of the players participating in this tournament have represented their respective provinces on provincial and Canada Games competitions and many have gone on to the play at the small college or university level. The tournament is made possible through the efforts of the community, the volunteers who organize the event, the high school players and fans from across Atlantic Canada who support the event, basketball officials, school administrators and community businesses. The Classic has always set as its objective to present an event that the players are proud to participate in and the community is even prouder to present. Every year the Classic garners extensive media coverage in the Moncton Times – Transcript and local radio stations. A tournament picture and story is regularly featured as the front page photo and consistently graces the front page of the sports section in the Times and Transcript during the week of the tournament. The organizing committee also promotes the Classic on the web that allows players, fans and parents to follow all the games no matter where they live. The tournament goes beyond just competition as the organizers work very hard to provide the players, coaches and fans with unique experience that goes beyond just the games. The Classic has a strong tradition of promoting camaraderie among the players and this is accomplished by creating a “Players’ Lounge” that is set up on the tournament’s opening day and remains open until the gold medal game on Saturday. With the help of parents and generous donations from the business community, the organizing committee provides the players with hot meals along with healthy drinks and snacks. The parents from each of the local high school teams participating in the Classic take on the task of hosting the players’ lounge for one day, preparing food enough to feed about 120 players and coaches. To our knowledge we are the only tournament to provide players with complete healthy meals and drinks during a tournament. It provides peace of mind for players and coaches in knowing that they are being looked after when they are away from home. These high school players are the next young leaders in our communities and the Hoop Classic very early in its creation recognized the need to provide these players, ages 15 to 18, with mentors, individuals they can look up to and learn valuable life lessons. Through the generosity of one of our long-time supporters, Greco, we are able to host a players’ luncheon. This provides yet another opportunity off the court for the players to socialize. On the third day of the tournament a guest speaker usually provides a laugh, a lesson and some personal reflection during a speech to the girls. Over the years the organizing committee has been able to attract former Olympic athletes, motivational speakers and community leaders to share their words of wisdom with the players and coaches. We thank this year’s guest speaker, UPEI Panthers Head Coach Carly Clarke, for her time and support of the event. The Ladies Basketball Classic also recognizes that this tournament and the players’ involvement in sports wouldn’t be possible without the work of coaches, officials, and sport builders in our community. To honour those individuals who have volunteered to help promote the sport but more importantly to encourage a young person to get involved in sports the Classic names an honourary chairman. It’s a way for the organizing committee and players on behalf of the community to say thank-you to these individuals. In 2011 we honour Greg Gould who has recently retired from a 40-year coaching career, capped off by three straight NBIAA Ladies Provincial championships with Riverview High School. As you can see the Ladies Basketball Classic is more than just a sporting event but a community event that contributes to the growth and development of the young women who participate in the event but also basketball in the community. School sports are just one aspect of high school life, education of course being the most important part. The Classic organizing committee has found a way to contribute to the students’ continuing education and that’s by awarding of a 500 dollar bursary. In fact, a $500 bursary is awarded to a graduating player from each of the girls’ high school teams in Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe. This includes players from teams not participating in the Classic. Over the years close to $25,000 in bursaries have been awarded to students pursuing a post-secondary education. Over past 16 years the Ladies Basketball Classic has grown from an idea to host a high calibre basketball tournament in a high school gymnasium to a much anticipated regional event hosted at the Moncton Coliseum, attracting top quality teams from across Atlantic Canada.