Winter Sea Bears: Winnipeg’s newest sports franchise making an impact in its off-season
Global News
Winter Sea Bears programming starts this Wednesday. It's a new off-season program involving basketball training camps for underserved youth across Winnipeg.
In a move to better support underserved children across the city, Winnipeg’s newest sports team is opening up an offseason program for youth to teach them about basketball.
The Winnipeg Sea Bears, in partnership with the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, is launching basketball camps for youth under the age of 18. The camps will include instructions from players across different teams, consisting of the Winnipeg Wesmen, Manitoba Bisons, and the Sea Bears.
In a press release on Wednesday, the Sea Bears said the programming aims to ensure children “feel cared for and connected to their community, regardless of their ability or socioeconomic status.” It also reads that the goal of the programming is “to give youth a place to learn skills so that they may develop livelong habits and reap the benefits of sport and activity.”
The offseason program will be called the Winter Sea Bears, with the first camp taking place on Nov. 29. It will see youth enrolled with BGC Winnipeg – formerly known as the Boys and Girls Club – learning under head coach Mike Taylor and players like Simon Hildebrandt, Jennifer Kallon, and others.
Gene Muller, director of athletics and recreation at the University of Manitoba, said that the experiences and mentorship of students playing for the university’s basketball team can help develop the next generation of players.
“Sport is a powerful way to connect people of different backgrounds and experiences. We are thrilled to partner with the Sea Bears, help serve others in our community and share experiences. Our student-athletes were once aspiring youth who dreamed of playing university or pro basketball,” said Muller.
Jason Smith, president of the Sea Bears franchise, said that basketball as a sport was powerful in uniting the Winnipeg community throughout the team’s inaugural season. Speaking to Global News, he said the support the franchise has gotten from fans and the local community has been positive.
It’s always great to be able to extend the season, with initiatives like this, he said.
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