The Fraser Valley Bandits are putting their best foot forward this weekend as they travelled to Ahousaht on Vancouver Island to host a youth basketball camp. The team sent Canada Basketball veteran and Bandits alumni Levon Kendall, who is from Vancouver, alongside Multi-Year Bandit Malcolm Duvivier to host the camp.
"I like to describe our community practically as a basketball community, especially for our children and youth."
All love this weekend in Ahousaht for our basketball camp with Levon Kendall and Malcolm Duvivier. 🏀 #IAmValley x #OurGame pic.twitter.com/ext1D4WUwD
— Vancouver Bandits (@vancitybandits) May 8, 2022
The community welcomed the team in with open arms and have embraced the opportunity to continue bettering experiences for their youth through a sport they love. Speaking with Vice President of Operations Andrew Savory, it is easy to see how this relationship came to be and it leaves the door open for so much more.
“The athletic director for Ahousaht was actually on the BC provincial team with Levon Kendall and the BC Summer Games team when they were both 15 and 16 and they’ve played on and off in various tournaments over the years since then. And that’s how this idea first started and there’s already talk of hopefully building this to become an annual thing not just in the community of Ahousaht but also traveling into the interior and BC’s North and even some of the coastal communities as well.” – Andrew Savory
Levon Kendall and Malcolm Duvivier are in Ahousaht hosting a youth basketball camp! 🙌
Follow along this weekend as we share highlights from our camp in collaboration with Ahousaht Nation. 🏀#IAmValley x #OurGame pic.twitter.com/kF0PNFCWJQ
— Vancouver Bandits (@vancitybandits) May 7, 2022
The Bandits have been keen since day 1 about their community connections. Past initiatives included opening the TELUS Bandits Athletic Centre in Abbotsford as well as flood relief projects during the catastrophic atmospheric river in November of 2021.
Savory also mentioned the deep connections Ahousaht and many other communities have with the sport of basketball.
“A lot of people don’t know, but indigenous basketball is as important to these communities throughout BC than potentially any sport in the country, even hockey for that matter. It’s something that’s played year round, it’s extremely financially accessible, whether its pouring rain outside or it’s a toasty warm gym, these kids are giving it their all and they infuse their culture into it.” – Andrew Savory
The Bandits began in 2019 in Abbotsford but for this season have made the move to the Langley Events Centre. Their CEBL season begins May 25th when they head to Ottawa to face the Blackjacks.