Ice is the most familiar sporting surface at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre (AESC), but for one evening early next year, hardwood will take precedence.
It’s part of an ambitious plan unveiled yesterday (Wednesday) by the University of the Fraser Valley athletic department to take university basketball to new heights in this city.
On Jan. 28, 2012, the Cascades will host the Trinity Western University Spartans in a Canada West regular season doubleheader at the AESC. The UFV and TWU women’s hoopsters will tip things off at 5 p.m., followed by the men’s teams at 7 p.m.
Holding a hoops showcase at AESC — which seats just over 7,000 — represents a massive increase in scale for the Cascades, whose average attendance for home games at the Envision Athletic Centre is numbered in hundreds rather than thousands.
But organizers are excited about the event’s potential, and hope it will grow into an annual affair.
“It has the potential to be great,” enthused David Kent, UFV’s sports information and marketing co-ordinator. “When it comes to something big like this, it piques everyone’s interest.”
Kent is the driving force behind the initiative, and he boasts extensive experience launching large-scale events.
Kent worked for the Carleton University athletic department in Ottawa before coming on board with the Cascades last year. At Carleton, he set in motion the Capital Hoops Classic — a game between the Carleton Ravens and the Ottawa Gee Gees men’s basketball teams at Scotiabank Place, the home of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.
The inaugural Capital Hoops Classic in 2007 drew 9,720 fans, well beyond expectations, and the event is now an annual fixture in Ottawa.
“I can’t see this failing, let’s put it that way. If we get 3,500 (fans), I’d be tickled pink.”
Al Tuchscherer, head coach of the Cascades women’s basketball team, said the Langley-based Spartans are a natural choice as the opponent in the hoops showcase.
“I think it has to be Trinity,” he said. “It’s a good rivalry . . . Hatred is too strong a word, but there’s some feelings there, for sure.”
Trinity Western sports information director Scott Stewart says the event should help accelerate the growing rivalry between the two schools.
The rivalry has increased since UFV joined the CIS a few years ago and two years ago, the Cascades’ men’s basketball team made the playoffs at the expense of the Spartans.
Last year, the Spartans returned the favour, knocking Fraser Valley out of the post-season.
Plus, the event should will be great for basketball in the Valley.
“It will help the exposure of basketball in the Valley,” Stewart said. “It will help raise the level of what people see for university sports.”
As for the possibility of the event being held at the Langley Events Centre in the arena down the road, TWU director of athletics Murray Hall said they have not yet explored that option.
— with files from Gary Ahuja/Langley Times