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city of Abbotsford tax subsidies. So that's the marching orders our sta have, and if we can make that work, we're open." Adds Braun: "It's a new day. Abbotsford is busy, it's growing, and basketball is a very hot topic, especially with the rivalries between some of the high schools. I think the Bandits are going to do very well here." Development opportunities There's another part of the basketball com- munity that the Bandits and the CEBL as a whole promise to serve: the players. At 6ƒ7, Bandits coach and general manager Peter Guarasci is an intimidating ‡gure, but many of his players will relate to his story. The Ontario-born power forward dominated the university circuit with SFU and went on to play with Team Canada at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, alongside National Basketball Association superstar Steve Nash. But there was nowhere in North America for him to ply his trade professionally, so he spent 12 years playing in Germany and Italy. "Basketball's a sport where you really can ‡nd out what your potential is in your mid-to-late 20s," Guarasci says. "So having the CEBL in place will give these guys an opportunity to develop in the summer and further in their careers. That's probably the most exciting thing for me—just the fact we're bringing pro groups back to B.C." Still, the odds are stacked against the CEBL, at least when it comes to having pro- longed success in the Fraser Valley. The Vancouver Giants are three years into a 10-year lease at the Langley Events Cen- tre, icing one of the best teams in the WHL, including prospective top NHL draft pick Bowen Byram. Conditions probably don't get better than that, but this year the club posted an average attendance of 3,826. The worst average the team ever recorded in Vancouver was 4,956. (The Giants didn't respond when asked for a comment.) And everyone knows what happened with the Stealth and the Heat. Will basket- ball really make all the dierence? Odds are it will come down to whether Genier, Guarasci and company can make those 10 home games each summer intrigu- ing and entertaining enough to become must-attend events. Genier will be drawing on his experi- ence in Saskatchewan hawking lacrosse, and he likes his chances. "I stood up day one and said, 'Hey, we're going to sell out this place,'" he says of Saskatoon's Sask- Tel Centre and its 15,000 capacity. "Folks thought, 'Who the heck does this guy think he is?' It came to fruition, and a lot of people said, 'I owe you an apolo¢y.'" If he's wrong this time, there will likely be no shortage of people ready to rub it in his face. After all, there are still Abbotsford residents who refuse to go to the centre because they consider it a colossal waste of public funds. But Genier believes con‡- dence is key, and he's got enough to spare. "You have to see and believe and carry that message to everyone. And we're look- ing to do the same in the Fraser Valley. You've got 7,000 seats here, and I want to see 7,000 seats sold every game." n The Vancouver Grizzlies lumbered into the NBA in 1995, carrying the weight of the league's Canadian expansion effort along with the Toronto Raptors. Although the latter has enjoyed enormous success in a hockey-mad city, the Grizzlies, shepherded by then–Vancouver Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths, folded a mere six years later. There were many reasons for the club's failure, but chief among them was lack of revenue. Perhaps Vancouver wasn't ready for a professional basketball team. Or maybe a perennial loser didn't whet anyone's appetite. (After all, the Canucks were already around; apparently only Toronto can support two losing franchises.) But since the team departed for Memphis, basketball's popularity appears to have surged in the city, somewhat inconveniently for die-hard Grizzlies fans. Look for that trend to continue. In 2014, basketball was the third-ranked sport in Canada for those aged three to 17, behind only soccer and hockey, according to a study by Toronto-based Solutions Research Group. Taking a longer-term view, Statistics Canada found that soccer and basketball were the only two sports in which participation by five- to 14-year-olds increased from 1992 to 2005. The kicker? The Raptors' valuation has exploded since the Grizzlies vanished from Vancouver. In 2003, Forbes pegged the franchise's worth at US$217 million. As of this year, the magazine valued it at US$1.7 billion, 11th among the NBA's 30 teams. –N.C. B.C.'S FIRST PRO BASKETBALL TEAM WAS AHEAD OF ITS TIME–AND SUFFERED FOR IT A Grizzly Tale "BASKETBALL'S A SPORT WHERE YOU REALLY CAN FIND OUT WHAT YOUR POTENTIAL IS IN YOUR MID-TO-LATE 20S. SO HAVING THE CEBL IN PLACE WILL GIVE THESE GUYS AN OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP IN THE SUMMER AND FURTHER IN THEIR CAREERS. THAT'S PROBABLY THE MOST EXCITING THING FOR ME" –Peter Guarasci, coach and general manager, Fraser Valley Bandits 24 BCBUSINESS MAY 2019 BEAR MARKET Bryant (Big Country) Reeves couldn't save the Grizzlies ROCKY WIDNER/NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES

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