The Maritime Women’s Basketball Association will crown its champion in June.
Celebrations will unfold in Fredericton, home of the Freeze.
The Freeze will host the four-team PRO•LINE Legacy Cup June 21-22 at the sparkling Richard J. Currie Center on the campus of the University of New Brunswick.
UNB is a platinum partner for the event that will feature two teams from New Brunswick and two from Nova Scotia.
‘This is absolutely wonderful news that we’ve been waiting to announce since it all started to unfold,’ said MWBA commissioner, Jen McKenzie of Dartmouth, NS. ‘We’re excited to continue our relationship with PRO•LINE and Atlantic Lottery and we’re certainly fired up to host our marquee event in such a beautiful setting and facility at the Richard J. Currie Center.’
‘Atlantic Lottery’s PRO•LINE is excited to partner with the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association once again as presenting sponsor of the Legacy Cup in June,’ said Scott Eagles, director of sports betting at Atlantic Lottery. ‘We have enjoyed watching the MWBA thrive and grow and are incredibly proud of the impact it continues to have, advancing opportunity for women in sports across our region.’
The MWBA will open its fourth season the May 3-4 weekend.
Fredericton is an original member of the MWBA and a three-time New Brunswick Division champion.
The Freeze, however, has never made a PRO•LINE Legacy Cup final.
The New Brunswick-based teams will have a semifinal series between first place and fourth and second and third from the regular season.
Both surviving teams will punch their tickets to the championship.
In Nova Scotia, which has three teams, the top regular season finisher earns a first round playoff bye. Second and third place will play off to determine who plays top seed for provincial bragging rights and PRO•LINE Legacy Cup seeding.
The MWBA features the Freeze, Miramichi Hericanes, Port City Fog of Saint John and Moncton Mystics in New Brunswick. The Nova Scotia entrants are Halifax Thunder, Halifax Hornets and Lake City 56ers of Dartmouth/Cole Harbour.
‘As an organization, we have always strived to showcase the women and purpose of the MWBA and that is to promote women in sport and provide community relationships which we have seen unfold since league inception,’ said Freeze general manager, Brad Janes. ‘We want to make our PRO•LINE Legacy Cup weekend a celebration of women in sport and enhance our league partners and those who support our organization in Fredericton.’
There is a catch, however, said Janes.
‘I’ve already let our coaching staff know we are hosting championship weekend,’ Janes said. ‘There’s only two teams from New Brunswick attending. The coaches know we need to be one of them.’
The PRO•LINE Legacy Cup will feature two Saturday semifinal matches, based on seedings. The survivors play in the Sunday final and the losing teams meet in a third-place outing.
‘The format worked last year very well,’ said McKenzie. ‘It was the first time we used a Final Four style and it produced a memorable weekend. Your season comes down to a game on our league’s biggest stage, so there was plenty of excitement.’
The MWBA, which plays a 10-game regular season, works with Halifax-based Sports & Entertainment Atlantic (S|E|A).
‘S|E|A has been with our league since Day 1 and has brought in nationally-recognized sponsors and that really opened the door last year with PRO•LINE as our Legacy Cup presenting partner,’ said McKenzie. ‘We will have more partnership news coming for the MWBA as the month continues.’
This will mark the second time the MWBA will crown a champion in New Brunswick.
Port City hosted the 2023 final at TD Station and drew a league record crowd of 1,209 to watch the Halifax Thunder defeat the Fog in an exciting final.
The inaugural Legacy Cup was in front of a packed house at Nova Scotia’s Saint Mary’s University in 2022 when the Hornets clipped the Thunder in an all-Halifax final.
Last year’s PRO•LINE Legacy Cup title run, where Thunder defeated Lake City, drew bumper crowds to Dalhousie University in Halifax.
‘We’re truly grateful to work with our supporters at UNB to create the schedule and allow us to play at such a facility,’ said McKenzie. ‘John Richard and David Saad with UNB athletics have understood the role the MWBA plays in promoting women in sport and so much more. They have helped make this happen and that is most appreciated.’
The MWBA is also hoping to host an exhibition meeting between Basketball New Brunswick and Basketball Nova Scotia’s under-17 girls’ team, preparing for the 2025 Canada Summer Games in St. John’s, NL.
‘We have had under-17 and under-15 girls’ games in the past as part of our championship weekend and we hope to see that continue this year,’ said McKenzie. ‘So many of our league players represented their provinces when they were growing up. It’s an opportunity to see many of our future players.’