Fastening yellow paper event wristbands on fans at the entrance to the Alberni Athletic Hall, Port Alberni resident Graham Hughes committed four days over the May long weekend to volunteer at the third annual Tseshaht Lightning Open basketball tournament.
This year, the open tournament brought together 75 teams and roughly 28,000 Indigenous and non-Indigenous people from all over British Columbia. It’s now considered one of region’s largest sport events, selling out accommodation in the Alberni Valley with spill over into Qualicum, Parksville and Nanaimo.
“I don’t know anything about basketball. I’m not a sportsperson. But all of the aspects about what this tournament is about are things that I heavily believe in, and I think this is the best event we have in town,” said Hughes.
“And not just for youth and the community as a whole when it comes to reconciliation, this is reconciliation in action. It’s open and welcome to all people to become a part of it, to experience, to understand and to grow,” he continued.
Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions says the city contributed $5,000 to help support the event. She was in the bleachers as a fan to cheer for her six-foot-one daughter Zoe who played for the U17 girls Rain team.
“This tournament feels very unique. There is a different energy with this tournament for sure,” said Minions.
As the host town of the Totem basketball tournament in January – one of the longest running basketball competitions in the province – Minions says Port Alberni has always been a basketball hub, but this tournament levels up by taking things outside of the school system.
“I think Tseshaht organizing this tournament is putting Port Alberni on the map for basketball in a whole new way and in a different level. Totem has always been that foundation, but this is such a cool addition to that,” she said.
Tseshaht Lightning girls coach and tournament organizer Nasimius Ross (Ed Ross) says they had 150 volunteer T-shirts made and about 30 were leftover. He said a lot of the volunteers were youth.
“When we come together, we do a beautiful thing. This is just a smolder and now I’m starting a fire,” said Ross.
“It’s for the kids,” adds Tseshaht girls coach Len Watts. “That’s who we started it for, so they have an extra tournament after JANT. It keeps growing every year.”
Some accusations surfaced on social media about coaches stacking teams and non-Indigenous players getting more court time than Indigenous players.
But Naani U17 boys coach Chris Sylvester said he thought the tournament was “all positive”, even when his boys fell 61-51 to the Ahousaht Islanders in an exciting final at the Alberni Athletic Hall on May 18.
“That was a lot of fun and we can’t wait to play Ahousaht again. If we can’t play together then there is no reconciliation. That’s the bottom line for me,” said Sylvester.
“That’s reconciliation. Playing on the same teams, playing against each other, being a good winner or loser,” he said.
Most of the players on the Naani squad are part of the Ucluelet Secondary School team that finished sixth at Provincials this year, according to Sylvester. He said they were invited to play for Naani by their Nuu-chah-nulth friend Anthony Curley.
“If people thought (the final) was heated; these kids know and respect each other. This is our community. It’s not Ahousaht, Tofino, Ucluelet, YFN, TFN, we’re West Coast and we do basketball in a certain way and it’s a winning style of basketball played with a lot of skill,” he said.
Sylvester shared that while he grew up in Detroit, Michigan, he really learned to play basketball when he was living in Ahousaht and working as a teacher.
“Ahousaht is the centre of basketball on the West Coast,” he said. “My first day in Ahousaht I went to men’s drop-in and never looked back. I was accepted right away.”
He said the best part about the tournament for him was getting to spend time with people he usually doesn’t get to see.
Tseshaht Lightning also hosted a youth dance during the weekend for players to make friends off the court.
Hughes said it’s the youth that motivates him to come back as a volunteer each year.
“Port Alberni has a lot of issues we have to address. There is not a lot of opportunity here,” said Hughes.
“Ed and the Tseshaht community, who have welcomed everyone to be a part of, it’s something that is humbling to be a part of because there is so much optimism and growth. I don’t play sports, but I grow by being here,” he said.
The tournament was broadcast live on hashilthsa.com with about 350 viewers tuning in from all over Canada and as far as Hong Kong and Switzerland.
