UBC creates 'basketball festival' by combining men's, women's U Sports championships

Myles Dichter · for CBC Sports

· Posted: Mar 11, 2025 4:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

U Sports is ramping up its ain March madness.

For the archetypal time, Canada's assemblage men's and women's hoops championships volition beryllium played alongside 1 different connected the Point Grey field astatine the University of British Columbia.

UBC diversion manager Kavie Toor is expecting large things from the ground-breaking event.

"It's going to consciousness similar a hoops festival," Toor said. "It's going to truly person an unthinkable feel, astir apt akin to a [U.S.] March Madness."

The men's and women's Final 8s tally Thursday done Sunday crossed the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre and War Memorial Gymnasium. Live sum of some tournaments is disposable on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.

Game schedules are intertwined with women's contests starring into men's and vice versa — fulfilling 1 of Toor's goals of afloat integration. The men's title goes astatine 10 a.m. ET/1 p.m. PT connected Sunday, followed by the women astatine 1 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

"We chiefly each passim the tourney viewed it arsenic a tremendous accidental to positively acceptable a caller way forward. And we anticipation that aft these championships that different schools volition instrumentality announcement and beryllium like, 'OK, let's bash dual championships,'" Toor said.

"Because it does assistance varsity sports arsenic a whole. It does bring up the women's title arsenic a full that's connected par with the men's title and it creates a spot of a caller formula."

Of course, determination person been immoderate hurdles for Toor and his squad arsenic they navigated caller ground.

Logistics main challenge

Logistics, similar the schedule, presented the main challenge, but UBC successfully lobbied U Sports to adhd a time to the men's tourney to marque it each work.

Toor said the readying process required plentifulness of creativity and ideation.

"We presumption our relation successful the Canadian ecosystem to pb and to instrumentality these risks and to instrumentality these opportunities to make thing that is new, almighty and impactful," helium said.

Along with the games themselves, UBC's hoops festival volition diagnostic a women successful sports sheet titled She's Got Next, a coaching session starring Toronto Raptors adjunct Jama Mahlalela and hoops camps successful Indigenous communities.

The Larry O'Brien Trophy volition besides marque an appearance.

"While the athletics is the driver, we besides privation to find opportunities to big ancillary events that assistance make a spot of an impact," Toor said.

For hoops fans successful Vancouver, it each creates a play wholly dedicated to the athletics — particularly arsenic they witnessed Toronto get handed a WNBA enlargement team, which Toor semi-jokingly said caused "a batch of jealousy."

Meanwhile, for caller fans, the Final 8 presents a premier accidental to spot the athletics astatine its grassroots best.

"Generally erstwhile radical travel up for the archetypal time, they're ever like, 'Wow, I had nary thought this was specified a precocious level of basketball, hockey, football, et cetera. This is simply a large ambiance and a large experience. I'm going to travel back,'" Toor said. "So we privation to make that for much radical and we besides anticipation that inspires youth."

Plus, determination is the hoops contention itself.

UBC teams gain tourney berths

Both UBC squads reached the tourney done qualification alternatively than relying connected a big berth, with the women seeded 5th (facing No. 4 Saint Mary's successful the quarterfinals) and the men 3rd (facing No. 6 UPEI).

It'll beryllium the archetypal matchup betwixt the teams successful each instance.

But entering arsenic the big squad whitethorn beryllium a double-edged sword — adjacent if it means get a surprising shoutout from NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal and TNT's Inside The NBA crew.

There are the evident positives successful that players and coaches person the comforts of their ain beds and their ain facilities. Plus, the assemblage should beryllium 100 per cent successful UBC's favour.

However, there's besides further unit that comes with location court. Each of the men's and women's Thunderbirds participate the nationalist title disconnected losses successful the Canada West final.

"If you're capable to get done that archetypal nighttime and enactment done the excitement of a large assemblage connected the large signifier and advance, I think, if you're successful that last four, I springiness our teams a bully accidental arsenic any. But often those archetypal games are tricky due to the fact that determination are opponents that you haven't seen before," Toor said.

Toor said his teams would thin connected their depth, arsenic they had each season, en way to an 18-2 grounds for the women and 15-5 people for the men.

Instead of relying connected conscionable 1 star, having options erstwhile the unit rises could beryllium crucial.

"Our coaching staffs crossed the committee are truly trying to marque definite they're good prepared and that they travel into the games excited, but inactive connected an adjacent keel and not trying to bash excessively much. Sometimes erstwhile the signifier is big, you get to the infinitesimal wherever you're trying to unit things," Toor said.

Indeed, it volition beryllium the biggest signifier — possibly ever — for Canadian assemblage hoops players, arsenic some the men and women travel unneurotic to vie successful 1 spot for the archetypal clip ever astatine UBC.