Annual BRIT basketball tournament set to tip off in Saskatoon on Thursday

The 55th annual Bedford Road Invitational Tournament (BRIT) gets underway today at Saskatoon’s Bedford Road Collegiate.

The annual event, which runs from Thursday through Saturday, is among the biggest and best basketball tournaments in all of Canada. Each year, BRIT brings together high schools from across the country – and sometimes even internationally – for three days of competition.

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This year, there are 12 teams competing in the tournament.

St. Joseph High School, Holy Cross High School, Walter Murray Collegiate and of course Bedford Road Collegiate will represent the Bridge City over the course of the next three days.

Archbishop O’Neill High School from Regina will represent the Queen City at BRIT.

The out-of-province competitors at this year’s event include West Vancouver Secondary, Magrath High School, Medicine Hat High School, St Francis Xavier High School (Edmonton), Brooks Composite High School, Kildonan-East Collegiate (Winnipeg) and Séminaire St. Joseph (Toris Rivières).

(Bedford Road Invitational Tournament/Facebook)

The tournament tips off on Thursday afternoon with hosts Bedford Road Collegiate facing West Vancouver Secondary at 2:30 p.m.

Ava Farkas and Olivia Doll are two of the student hosts this year, in charge of getting everything organized at BRIT, both on and off the court. Farkas said they’ve been hard at work for months getting everything ready.

“It’s going to be very busy. The environment is like nothing else,” Farkas said.

“I honestly have been excited since October, when we started our BRIT meetings. I’ve been pumped for months.”

“It’s going to be a really exciting year, because we’re still coming off COVID and getting back to what BRIT used to be,” Doll added.

“Seeing it back at its former glory is going to be really exciting.”

For the past several months, both Farkas and Doll have been busy helping keep all of the teams informed and organized ahead of the three-day tournament.

“We try to make it the best experience possible so that they can focus as much on their basketball,” Farkas said.

The pair have also been busy preparing scripts, pep rallies, organizing team breakfasts, hanging banners and making sure all of the teams get their BRIT apparel.

With students, parents and fans from across the country converging on the school’s gym over the next three days, Farkas and Doll are expecting thousands of people to pass through the doors, especially on Saturday for the semi-finals and finals.

Farkas said the memories that students make at BRIT is a big part of the reason why she’s so excited for the tournament.

“You have a lot of downtime where you’re just hanging out with your friends, and obviously the basketball is incredible,” Farkas explained.

“The two of us both play basketball as well. Everyone can enjoy basketball, but there’s just a little bit of extra magic there that’s added once you understand the game a little bit more in and out. The memories that you make here are just incredible.”

“We have a lot of high-ranking teams coming this year, so I think it’s so exciting to see all the crossover between the provinces. Getting to see the number one (or) number two team from Alberta, play the number five team from Quebec and see how they rank up against each other, it’s just incredible basketball” Doll added.

“And you have thousands of people cheering in the stands, and it’s just an incredible environment that we don’t really get.”

In addition to the basketball, Dolle and Farkas said that throughout the tournament dancers from across the city will also be showcasing their talents.

The semi-finals take place on Saturday, starting at 1:30 p.m., followed by a second semi-final game at 3 p.m. The championship game is set to be played at 9 p.m. on Saturday night.

For those who can’t make it down to Bedford Road Collegiate in person, all of the games throughout the tournament will be streamed on YouTube.

Last year, Walter Murray defeated Holy Cross in the championship final to win its first BRIT title since 1990.