The Maritime Women’s Basketball Association believes public and player feedback is paramount to continuing moving forward.
It’s already been a busy off-season for the MWBA and its eight-member teams and that will continue.
Teams have already received a tentative schedule for the 2027 campaign which will be Season No. 6. It is the earliest teams have had schedules in their hands and all organizations are going over the format, using the draft to prepare for next year.
Some ideas have been offered including more mid-to-late week games between regional rivalries, starting the season a week earlier and ending the season earlier along with potential double-header games, particularly in Nova Scotia.
Updated bylaws, roster configurations and a revamped constitution will be a part of the MWBA’s annual general meeting in the early fall.
Now, back to public feedback.
The MWBA has ignited a fan forum on this website, allowing you to ask questions, seek feedback and send your own observations.
‘We wanted to give our fans the opportunity to reach out to us through social media and let us know what they like, what they don’t like and what can be done to improve, maintain and ensure sustainability for the MWBA,’ said league executive director, Brad Janes of Fredericton. ‘Our fans and financial partners are never scared to let us know how we’re doing and we get a lot of feedback during the season face-to-face at games which is always outstanding. There were a few strong opinions sent our way on individual team personnel, but that is something for the organizations to handle and not the league.’
The fan forum will remain open through the end of August.
Please see this week’s selections of questions:
- I have gone to games and watched on-line an am interested in playing in the MWBA. How do I join a team? – A number of MWBA teams will hold open tryouts, usually in late March and into early April in preparation for the season. As the league continues to evolve, there is more recruiting players for rosters. You can find team information on this website under contact and reach out to them through those channels. Reminder, the MWBA is strictly an amateur league and players are not paid. Some media outlets and social media have referred to the league as professional or semi-professional. That is incorrect and amateur remains the operation standard.
- How do we get the word out about the league? It’s fantastic competition and more people need to experience it! – We will raise a toast to that observation. It’s also a great question and one the MWBA is digging into this off-season. It’s unfortunate mainstream media is not quite the beast it used to be when newspaper coverage offered game profiles, player personalities and much more. Fredericton-based TRL Solutions has been the MWBA’s digital partner and website provider since the league’s inception and plans are under way for a campaign that would begin in September on creating awareness through digital targeting. That means the Maritimes and beyond. The MWBA hopes to re-launch its podcast under a different format and the pursuit of financial partners continues. Advertising through our loyal partners such as Atlantic Lottery Corporation, Cira Nutrition and more is imperative. We are a small operation that dreams big.
- ‘Why hasn’t your league expanded in PEI?’ – We can tell you, it hasn’t been for lack of trying! The league has had a number of conversations with potential PEI representatives, but being transparent, nothing has taken root at this point. We did have encouraging talks with another group in early spring with mentions of potential Island expansion for the 2028 season. The league also received an expansion from PUSH Cape Breton (Sydney, NS) for 2027, but it was pushed back until potentially 2028. The MWBA started its run with the Original Six (Halifax Thunder, Halifax Hornets, Lake City 56ers (ne Windsor Edge), Fredericton Freeze, Port City Fog of Saint John and Moncton Mystics. It added Miramichi HerIcanes and Truro Tidal Queens to get to its present eight-team format. The league is content with eight teams at this point as it continues to grow and continues to try and find its footing in competitive environments when it comes to discretionary spending for sports entertainment dollars. We value our fans and don’t want to grow too big, too fast.
- Can you see a world where pro women’s basketball comes to Canada? – It would be nice to have a second division professional women’s league to begin the pursuit of keeping many of our players at home. We certainly applaud so many of our MWBA players who have joined our league following pro careers or who have signed overseas contracts at the professional level. The MWBA has opened a lot of eyes since launching with the remarkable talent levels and in-game presentations. We have certainly followed the success of the men’s Canadian Elite Basketball League and used to hold regular conversations with its former commissioner, Mike Morreale, who gave the MWBA plenty of time and opinions. It would take serious vision to create a pro league and serious dollars. We like to think the MWBA has filled a massive void for women’s basketball. Right now, we’re happy with our status, but are always open to new ideas.
- What has been your league’s biggest success and what has been your league’s biggest disappointment? – Oh, boy, that’s a head-scratcher, but we love it! Through countless challenges over the years, the fact the MWBA is preparing for its sixth season, is probably the biggest success story. There were plenty of hurdles and there still are to this day. We heard plenty of negative chatter from will women play, who wants to watch a league of former players, it’s not sustainable, why is the league using high school gyms and plenty – plenty more! We kept our facilities small right off the hop. None of the teams were interested in playing in arenas with higher rent and large capacities where a crowd of 450 would look tiny. Each team decides where it will play its home games and a litany of reasons go into finding a home gymnasium. We have kept it small and expand for our league championship where we have played at TD Station in Saint John and Richard J. Currie Center in Fredericton, two marvellous facilities. Saint Mary’s University has been home to one of our teams outside of this past season due to renovations and the MWBA has also used Dalhousie University for its final. Every option is always weighed for sustainability. Biggest disappointment? The MWBA obviously believes in the power of women in sport. The league has approached countless potential partners and it’s been difficult to find financial resources to help off-set increasing costs. We were admittingly spoiled when we had two giants (Medavie and Royale) as founding partners. Its support is with other leagues now and we are forever grateful to have worked with those companies. Atlantic Lottery Corporation, TRL Solutions and Cira Nutrition are with us now and we will have more announcements soon on new partners, so that’s great news. So, losing some corporate power has been disappointing, but our crew is resilient. We have to be resilient in a competitive market.
– Miramichi and Halifax Hornets battled this season in the Nova Scotia capital city. (DW Photo)
