WMBA FOUNDATION

WMBA FOUNDATION


One fall day Mike Ruta was heading into work and cut in behind a high school where an outdoor court had been erected many years ago. 

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.



On October 29, 2004 the WMBA Foundation
(a non-profit corporation) was incorporated.


The original directors included Mike Ruta, Adam Wedlake and Dwight MacNeill.
Past presidents of the WMBA have served and continue to serve as Presidents of the Foundation.

Once established we were very fortunate that Ted Fardoe, owner of Canotech Consultants Ltd. and member of the WMBA Board coordinated construction of our first court in 2006 which was located at Garden City Community Centre and all future courts. Construction of the court included the following requirements.


  • Approval of the Community Centre Board to proceed.
  • Architectural drawings prepared by Prairie Architects that were intended to be used for all future court constructions.
  • Court specification requirements as follows:
  • Aggregate base dug 18 inches into the soil.
  • Asphalt covering
  • Mondo colour surface over the Asphalt surface.
  • Posts dug down 4 feet secured by concrete.
  • Plexiglass backboards with strong hoop mechanisms
  • 4 Barkman concrete granite benches and one garbage container.
  • Lighting on both sides of the court tied into electrical switches in the community centre
  • Fencing surrounding the court with two exits and entrances.
  • Land drainage drawings to ensure proper drainage.
  • Approval from the City to locate the court at the community centre and assurance there was sufficient supervision and maintenance of the facility.


The Garden City court constructed in 2006 cost $112,723 and was funded as follows

·     City of Winnipeg - $25,000

·     Province of Manitoba – Community Places grant - $20,000

·     Red River Co-op - $5.000

·     Sports Legacy Fund - $25,000

·     Teams fees from the WMBA = $37,723


Since then five other courts have been built at each of the following community centres

  • Whyte Ridge – 2007
  • Dakota – 2010
  • Oxford Heights - 2014
  • Kirkfield Westwood - 2011
  • Central Corydon - 2016


Each of the courts has cost incrementally more over the years with the final court costing approximately $180,000.


Because the Foundation is a non-profit, the Foundation sought and received charitable status for fund-raising with respect the outdoor court project from Sports Manitoba. Although only about $4,000 was raised for this purpose, the funds were used for court construction. The charitable account is now closed with completion of these courts but there is still the ability to use this opportunity for future capital projects identified by the WMBA and Foundation.


After 15 years the Garden City court and all others built by the WMBA are in excellent condition and are used from spring to fall actively by our youth in the community. It has truly been a labour of love for the league to offer to the community and a tremendous legacy for all to enjoy. The WMBA has also used these courts for outdoor 3 on 3 tournaments and other events over the past two years during COVID. Following leadership of the WMBA, others have built similar courts using the designs developed by our league and now there are many high quality courts available for use throughout Winnipeg.


Each of the courts has cost incrementally more over the years with the final court costing approximately $180,000.


Because the Foundation is a non-profit, the Foundation sought and received charitable status for fund-raising with respect the outdoor court project from Sports Manitoba. Although only about $4,000 was raised for this purpose, the funds were used for court construction. The charitable account is now closed with completion of these courts but there is still the ability to use this opportunity for future capital projects identified by the WMBA and Foundation.


After 15 years the Garden City court and all others built by the WMBA are in excellent condition and are used from spring to fall actively by our youth in the community. It has truly been a labour of love for the league to offer to the community and a tremendous legacy for all to enjoy. The WMBA has also used these courts for outdoor 3 on 3 tournaments and other events over the past two years during COVID. Following leadership of the WMBA, others have built similar courts using the designs developed by our league and now there are many high quality courts available for use throughout Winnipeg.


PAST SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Noted below are past recipients of the $500 scholarships awarded to deserving youth who have participated in the WMBA. We are truly proud of their accomplishments.


2004  Darin Arnold & Krista Mitchell

2005  James McGill

2006  Laura Anderson & Jordan Hutsal 

2007  Alexa Amos & Trevor Grafton

2008 Meghan Labrie & Robert Jeffrey


2009 Spencer Hamson & Natalia Kleban

2010 Hailey Kell & Robin Quintana

2011 Trisha Luceno & Marc Collier

2012 Taylor Brown & Kerri Kuzbyt

2013 Alex Wolowiec & Alyssa Bauer


2014 Jordan Neufeld & Julia Schroeder

2015 Harkamal Dhillon & Rhianna Nelson

2016 Jeanelle Hauser & Eric Braganza

BRUCE RUSSELL COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD

Bruce Russell Memorial Coach of the Year Award has been established to recognize a WMBA coach for their outstanding commitment and dedication to their teams and Fair Play.


2002 

2003  Greg Braun

2004 

2005  Dwight MacNeil – Clifton Community Centre

2006  Bryan Gray – Fort Garry/South West District

2007  Gord Friesen – River Heights Community Centre

2008  Fred Mighty – East St. Paul Community Centre

2009  Michael Catalano – Gateway Community Centre


2010  Melanie Reyes – Garden City Community Centre

2011  Jon Giesbrecht – Thunder – Rising Stars league

2012  Chris Utz – Portage la Prairie – Rising Stars League

2013  Ray Green – Roblin Park Community Centre

2014  Peter Robertson-Stovel – Riverview Community Centre

2015  Stan Hall – Corydon Community Centre

2016  Charles Carlos – South Winnipeg Community Centre

2017  Krisha Armogan  – Maples Community Centre

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

In 2022 and future years the Foundation will continue with major capital upkeep of our six courts. Also the Foundation, with approval of the WMBA Board are leading the effort to document the history of the league and celebrate during the year events to profile the WMBA.


With COVID, it has been increasingly evident there is a need to build indoor court facilities at community centres through our WMBA membership network. To date at least three member community centres have built indoor facilities that are now being actively used for games and practices. The Foundation will be actively considering options as we progress in future years.

 

The WMBA has been a leader in our community not only in promoting basketball but providing to the community through its Foundation quality facilities for use. All involved in the Foundation and the WMBA Board as conveners, coaches and organizers are volunteers and without those who have given of their time, efforts and knowledge, we would not be celebrating today the success of basketball as a sport in our community.


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