Some of the best young basketball players from all across the Fraser Valley are again coming together to help raise awareness for mental health.
The second annual Bigger Than Basketball fundraiser returns to Abbotsford’s Robert Bateman Secondary School tomorrow (Wednesday), with all money raised from the event going towards mental health support.
The event comes on the heels of Mental Health Week in Canada, which ran from May 6 to 12 this year.
The idea for the game came about through former Yale Secondary basketball star Bradley Braich, who scored many points on the court for the Lions basketball teams, but also struggled with many of the pressures and expectations associated with the game and being an athlete.
Last year’s event raised over $2,000.
The event, hosted by the Abbotsford Basketball Association, sees the boys game tip-off at 5 p.m. and the girls game getting underway at 7:30 p.m.
The boys game features a team consisting of: Jalen Edwards (Abbotsford Senior Secondary School), Mark Destura (ASSS), Cole Wicker (G.W. Graham), Abby Kular (Abbotsford Traditional Secondary School), Geevon Janday (G.W. Graham), Anmol Shoker (G.W. Graham), Jaskirat Purewal (ASSS), Asher Mayan (Langley Christian School) and Cole Addison (LCS) battling Isaiah Peters (Robert Bateman Secondary School), Manvir Johal (W.J. Mouat), Gurkaran Mangat (Rick Hansen), Ben Rogers (Abbotsford Christian Secondary), Harjot Dhaliwal (Hansen), Prabh Saran (Mouat), Jake Nord-Leth (Chilliwack Secondary), Brandt Davies (Chilliwack Secondary), Gershaun Sarowa (Mouat) and Darsh Brar (RBSS).
Coaches for the boys game will be Surinder Sarowa and Trevor Pridie.
The girls game sees the team of: Tana Pankratz (Yale), Jae-Lynn Berger (ACS), Karsen Lazeo (RBSS), Jenna Dick (Brookswood), Hailey Van Roekel (LCS), Jenessa Knapp (Brookswood), Brooklyn White (Yale), Kira Joaquin (RBSS), Deanna Tuchscherer (G.W. Graham) and Karsen Look (Brookswood) squaring off against Kailey Reimer (MEI), Tavia Rowell (Walnut Grove), Amira Jensen (RBSS), Jessica Wisotzki (Walnut Grove), Jenna Van Roekel (LCS), Kyla Smith (MEI), Tianna Chan (Hansen), Rolande Taylor (Walnut Grove), Jayden Gill (RBSS) and Gurveer Chattu (RBSS).
Coaches for the girls game are Dan Village and Darren and Juanita Rowell.
Admission for the game is $5 for students and $7 for non-students, with free admission to kids five and under.
For more on the game, visit facebook.com/events/2646523375421206/