The Maritime Women’s Basketball Association will open its fifth season of action the first weekend of May.
It’s come a long way.
- Originally tabbed the Atlantic Canadian Basketball Association, the league naming part was an interesting story before settling on the MWBA. Various logos remain including a basketball riding a wave, one with waves crashing against a lighthouse and a couple of more before Fredericton-based TRL Solutions offered the logo that was accepted and become popular, accented with the Canadian maple leaf at the bottom.
- Speaking of different names, some team nicknames that were considered included the Halifax Sirens before Hornets was adopted, Fredericton Heat and Fredericton ThunderCats, Saint John Storm before Port City Fog was named and Moncton Raptors.
- The league has crowned champions four times since inception. Hornets were the inaugural PRO·LINE Legacy Cup winner, downing Halifax Thunder in the first final at Saint Mary’s University in the Nova Scotia Capital in 2022. Thunder would repeat in front of a record crowd 1,083 at TD Station in Saint John, downing the host Port City Fog. Thunder repeated at Dalhousie University in 2024 with a win over Lake City 56ers of Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Preston. Miramichi HerIcanes would break the Nova Scotia run in 2025, conquering the field with an overtime win over Lake City at Richard J. Currie Center in Fredericton.
- Fredericton Freeze and Moncton Mystics have yet to reach the PRO·LINE Legacy Cup final. The Freeze and Moncton actually played in the league’s first-ever game, albeit pre-season, in late April of 2022 in front of a jam-packed house at Harrison Trimble High School.
- Due to COVID-19 concerns, the MWBA went with tournament style weekends the first season. First-ever official game played was at Leo Hayes High School in Fredericton when Moncton battled Thunder. Maddy Greatorex of the Mystics scored the league’s first-ever basket.
- The league has expanded twice since 2022 including Miramichi in 2024 and this year with the Truro Tidal Queens gaining acceptance, swelling it to an eight-team league with full balance of four teams in New Brunswick and four in Nova Scotia.
- The Freeze signed post Nicole Campbell to its 2026 roster. A second-year Atlantic University Sport player with Newfoundland’s Memorial University Seahawks, Campbell certainly has lineage. Her mother is Dianne Norman, who spent 17 seasons with Canada’s national women’s team, appeared in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics in Atlanta and Sydney, Australia and is a member of the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame. Her father, John, was a long-time women’s and men’s coach at the AUS and Ontario University Athletics levels.
- Expansion Truro has been active once the calendar flipped to 2026. Truro signed the first player of the free agent season when it named Kendra MacKinnon to the roster. The aggressive Tidal Queens also named Truro’s Brea Hayden as head of entertainment. The Nova Scotia hub is going to be a fun place to play and watch basketball.
- Halifax Thunder usually keeps its signings close to its vest. Railbirds have signalled the Thunder will be announcing some veteran stars to the 2026 roster.
- Moncton turned over a huge part of its roster in 2025, bringing in a number of younger players and augmenting the team with veterans like Lindy Alcorn to show the way. The Mystics struggled early, but caught fire down the stretch, pushing more experienced teams to play their best. General manager, Shannon Parlee, called it ‘an incredibly fun season,’ as the young Mystics found their way in a tough league.
- Miramichi was concerned a month ago following some player turnover, but veteran general manager Jim Watters battled like he always does and worked the phones and contacts, ensuring the HerIcanes did not take a leave of absence.
- Former MWBA player Emily Briggs, who played for both Port City and Moncton over 25 games, was named Basketball New Brunswick’s head coach for its under-17 girls’ team, preparing for Canada Basketball age-class championships this summer.
- Freeze teammates Allie McCarthy and Bailey Russell will miss Fredericton’s season opener May 2 on Miramichi. With good reason. Both starred for the University of Ottawa and the Gee Gees are heading to Africa for an education/basketball trip, certainly what will be a memorable experience.
- Jasmine Parent returns to the MWBA for her fifth season with the Hornets. She has missed one game over four previous seasons, playing 39 out of 40 franchise outings. Parent is sixth all-time in league scoring with 333 points.
- Abby Miller, seventh all-time in league scoring with 322 points, turned professional this season, playing in Portugal. The affable Miller will return to the HerIcanes when her pro season ends, joining the team later in the season to provide veteran leadership.
- The league will announce April 20 its host for the PRO·LINE Legacy Cup Final Quartet which will be played June 20-21. This year will see the provincial divisions have two semifinals to create two survivors to attend the championship weekend.
- The MWBA is looking at moving its livestreaming to a Pay Per View model. The non-profit league lost two major founding sponsors in 2024 and 2025. League discussion continues.
– Abby Miller (r) is expected to re-join Miramichi after her pro season in Portugal ends. (Fran Harris Photo)
