The photo above represents something similar to what we have all witnessed.

Because of Manitoba’s shifting soil conditions, the asphalt court was cracked and heaving, the pole was leaning forward, there was no net on the hoop and the hoop assembly was bent – totally unusable and unmaintained but installed with good intentions over 20 years ago.

Over the years in our travels, we observed outdoor courts in New York City and on the beaches of Florida which were fenced in and actively used and maintained. Mike spoke to Marshall Mitton (a WMBA Board member) and together we brought forward a proposal to the WMBA Board and membership in 2004 to incorporate a separate non-profit corporation with the following mandate:

• Offer to community centre members of the WMBA in approximately six district areas of the City the opportunity to construct high quality durable outdoor basketball courts.
• Raise funding from different levels of government and interested community centres to construct the court. Each team registering in the WMBA would be assessed a $50 team charge (approximately $5 per participant) which would be paid to the newly incorporated organization as seed money to be used in attracting further funding and paying for each court constructed.
• Further the new corporation would provide annual scholarships to male and female graduating students who participated in the league and financial assistance to participants who are unable to afford WMBA registration fees.
• Once constructed, it was the intention of the corporation to accumulate approximately $10,000 in capital funding for each court to help maintain the courts in perpetuity.
• Consider future opportunities to construct indoor courts at member community centres.