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The JR All Native Tournament (JANT) is British Columbia’s largest youth basketball tournament and this year is one of their biggest.
The tournament takes place March 19-24 on Vancouver Island and there are over 94 teams registered and 1,200 youth set to participate.
Snuneymuxw First Nation Chief Mike Wyse drafted a proposal with City of Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog and put in a bid at last year’s JANT in Kelowna; with support from the community and council they’re able to host this year.
“We’ve got a team put together that’s been meeting every Wednesday, doing the hard lifting,” said tournament director Kate Good. “It’s huge.”
This isn’t the first time Snuneymuxw has hosted – they did so back in 2015 – but they’re trying to make this year’s tournament stand out.
“We are trying to make it epic. We’re trying to make it memorable for folks when they do come to Nanaimo because we don’t know how many more years it’s going to be before it can come back,” said Good.
“It’s not something we do yearly so we (want to) make sure it’s an enjoyable experience for the ones that are coming.”
Snuneymuxw Native Sons basketball player Jayden Thomas has been playing the sport for 12 years and has participated in four JANTs already.
“I started playing just outside my house, at my neighbour’s house out in their driveway,” said Thomas. “And with the same crew that I played out there with, we started playing at the JR All Native as a team and it just grew from there.”
Last year, his team made it to the semi-finals and they’re hoping to at least make it that far again this year.
“Just looking at now at my team, I think we’re going to do pretty good, we have a lot of the same players and we’re going to hopefully win,” said Thomas.
Sport and athleticism have always played an important role within Snuneymuxw culture and Good said hosting brings the community great pride.
“It’s profiling not only our children and the sport of basketball, but also health and wellness. It’s really big for our youth in the struggling times that we’re in right now, it gives (them) an outlet,” said Good.
JANT gets its roots in the All Native Basketball Tournament which is hosted in Prince Rupert every February. While there is no available record to identify the first-ever JANT, those who participate are proud of its All Native roots.
“What I’ve been saying to people that don’t know about this is that this is like the NBA for First Nations.”
The community said all are welcome to come out and watch next week’s events.
Thomas, the 17-year-old shooting guard, is excited to represent his community. “I’m really excited. You know, I haven’t played in a JR All Native that’s been hosted here so I’m really looking forward to this year.”
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