Edmonton set to play ball with basketball events coming this summer

Edmontonian twins, Michelle and Katherine Plouffe, have switched their basketball focus to 3x3. (CTV News Edmonton)

Edmonton is set to become a basketball hub this summer, with national and international ballers coming to compete in the city.

The Alberta Basketball Association is bringing the best 3x3 basketball players in the world to the Edmonton Heritage Festival in Hawrelak Park, where they will compete in the International Basketball Federation’s (FIBA) 3x3 Women’s Series and 3x3 Challenger men’s tournament.

An offshoot of traditional basketball, 3x3 is played on half a court with three players and one rim — and games are fast and furious. Teams have 12 seconds to make a shot after possession, and the first team to 21 wins – or whichever team has the highest score at the end of the game, which lasts 10 minutes.

“The Alberta Basketball Association has established itself as one of the great creative forces in hosting creative, entertaining and dynamic basketball events," Paul Sir, ABA executive director, said.

“Our goal is to showcase two fantastic events as we proudly declare to the world that Edmonton is Hoopcity Canada."

The FIBA Challenger will run July 31 and Aug. 1. and will pit the top ranked men’s 3x3 teams from the FIBA 3x3 World Tour against one another for a spot in the FIBA 3x3 Masters. This will be the third Challenger event in and the second Women’s Series to be hosted in the city.

For two homegrown ballers, it’s a return home. Twins Michelle and Katherine Plouffe retired in 2019 from the Senior Women’s National Basketball team to focus on 3x3. The sport made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo games, and now both play for Team Canada. You can catch them at the 3x3 Women’s Series on July 30 and 31.

The Boys Basketball Youth Nationals are also coming back to the city, and the boys U15U and U17U will play at the Saville Community Sports Centre from Aug. 1-6. It’s the first time the championships have been back to Edmonton since 2014.