FIBA 3×3 women’s basketball series set for August in Saskatoon

In five short years, Humboldt’s Paige Crozon has become one of the world’s top 3-on-3 basketball players while travelling the globe with Canada’s national women’s 3-on-3 team.

While her journey has included stops half a world away, it’s an upcoming tournament this summer that will bring her much closer to home.

“I haven’t played in Saskatchewan or competed formally in Saskatchewan since I graduated high school at Humboldt Collegiate Institute in 2012,” said Crozon. “To be able to come back, share the experience with my friends and family will be amazing and such a good opportunity.”

Crozon and Team Canada will be knocking down jumpers at Victoria Park in Saskatoon, announced as one of the 2024 tour stops for the FIBA 3-on-3 women’s series which will take place August 17 and 18.

It’s a return to Saskatchewan for FIBA, after Saskatoon hosted the men’s circuit for three consecutive years between 2017 and 2019 in downtown Saskatoon.

Formally announced at a press conference Wednesday morning hosted by Discover Saskatoon, it will be the women’s turn this summer with Canada joined by teams from 11 other countries.

“We’re the only Canadian destination on the women’s series tour this year and it’s really exciting to see the community members coming together,” said Discover Saskatoon chief executive officer Steph Clovechok.

“We really demonstrated our hosting capacity in 2017 through 2019, so it was a win for us.”

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Discover Saskatoon confirms it will be a ticketed event at Victoria Park, however it will be a ‘nominal’ price for spectators to watch — similar to the process of the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival in 2023 — where tickets can be purchased at the gates.

According to Clovechok, the FIBA women’s series is expected to generate somewhere in the area of $1 million in economic activity for the city.

“August is a very low season for our hotel partners,” said Clovechok. “We’re going to be seeing upwards of 500 room nights for a period of three to five days, so that’s going to bring incredible economic value to the community.”

In tandem with the tournament, it was announced that the inaugural ‘YXE Urban Games’ will take place over the same weekend.

Co-chaired by former Canadian 3-on-3 men’s team member Michael Linklater, the Games take inspiration from the World Urban Games which were created in Hungary in 2019 and will feature several community partnerships as well as merging sport and Saskatoon’s arts and culture scene.

“Speed climbing, that’s a new Olympic sport and so is breakdancing,” said Linklater. “The focus of the Urban Games is to really engage with the younger population, but at the same time being able to bring out our other populations to be able to support the up-and-coming athletes.”

Between five and 10 less prominent sports like parkour, breakdancing, flag football and wakeboarding will be featured over the course of the weekend at sites across the city to encourage participation and involvement away from the core sports that are usually discussed in Saskatchewan.

“There’s a lot of emerging sports that are coming up that are more accessible to play,” said Linklater. “Some kids and athletes are not aware of these because they don’t get the spotlight to be able to showcase what these opportunities are.

“I think with the Urban Games showcasing a lot of these sports is also going to show the accessibility for athletes who may not want to play the main sports.”

The FIBA women’s series will take place mere days after the closing of the 2024 Paris Olympics, an event for which Crozon and Team Canada have spent the last three years preparing.

After missing out on the 2020 Tokyo Games due to a rules technicality, Canada is likely to make its Olympic debut in women’s 3-on-3 this summer which could set up the most memorable summer of Crozon’s career.

“Being able to come to Saskatoon after competing in the Olympics, hopefully bringing home an Olympic medal and being able to share that with my home province would be amazing,” said Crozon. “That’s the hope, the vision and the dream. Hopefully we can make those things happen in the next few months.”

More than Olympic medals and first-place FIBA finishes, Crozon is optimistic that this series in Saskatoon will help inspire the next wave of women’s basketball in province.

She hopes it will give other young girls the same feeling she did all those years ago, driving from Humboldt to watch the University of Saskatchewan Huskies play.

“You have to see it before you can believe that you can achieve it,” said Crozon. “To be able to have the highest level of women competing in front of lots of young girls in Saskatchewan I think is really important. I think it’s important to showcase women’s sports and women doing amazing things.”

Crozon and Team Canada will head to Japan in early May for their first Olympic qualification tournament.

If Canada is unable to win that tournament, they’ll head to a last-chance event in Hungary where three more Olympic spots will be up for grabs.

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