Inaugural Battle of the Badges attracts teams from across North America
Organizers praise Oval and Richmond Sport Hosting
Photo Credit: @brighterlightsg
Take the ingredients of the Dolphin Classic into a world class facility and that was the vibe of the inaugural Battle of the Badges Canada Basketball Tournament.
The three-day event wrapped up on Sunday at the Richmond Olympic Oval and certainly met the organizers’ expectations and then some. A combined 12 teams competed in the Open and Masters Divisions, including from five different U.S. states, along with Trinidad and Tobago.
All players work in law enforcement, as firefighters or in the military and it was evident many had played at the collegiate level.
The Canadian event was created by the Anderson family and served as a fundraiser for the Duncan Anderson Memorial Scholarship Fund — the longtime high school coach who spent much of his life making a difference with the basketball programs at the schools he worked at as a teacher.
His eldest son John is a youth corrections officer who not only organized the tournament but helped the Lower Mainland-based Axes and Arms capture the over 40s Masters Division with a win against the Atlanta-based Dekalb Knights.
“I’m part of this Battle of the Badges Facebook group and just threw it out there to see if anyone wanted to come,” explained John. “We have also developed a lot of connections over the last 10 years by travelling to tournaments. We met a lot of American teams and developed friendships. They jumped all over this.”
John leaned heavily on the help of his brother James and sisters Kathleen and Sarah to pull it off. He was also very grateful for the work of Richmond Sport Hosting.
Continue to read the full article on the Richmond News website here.
