Alisa Suykens Memorial Tournament

May 24-25, 2024

Registration is Now Open!

Introductory Message:

Welcome to all players, coaches, officials and families!  The Okotoks Basketball Association (OBA) is so excited and proud to host this basketball tournament.  We have turned this into a community event that we will be hosting year to year.

When we began planning this tournament back in 2020 it was based on an idea from our OBA board member, Alisa Suykens, as she had the ambitious idea to host a tournament. That idea and the planning was cut short when the global pandemic brought everything to a halt and as we began to see the light at the end of the tunnel in the beginning of 2022, Alisa brought up the idea again and set the wheels in motion to host the tournament on May 27th/28th, 2022. 

Shortly after we began planning and arranging the details of hosting a tournament, Alisa suddenly passed away on March 20th, 2022. As a board we decided that we would do everything we could to see this tournament through as it was very important to Alisa and was to be another big achievement in her time as a board member with OBA. With her family's support we have renamed our tournament to the Alisa Suykens Memorial Tournament. We are proud to be able to see the tournament happen and honor Alisa at the same time.

OBA wants this tournament to be more than just a set of games.  That is why we have taken the time and effort to make this tournament “Fabulous”.  Fabulous was a favourite word of Alisa’s.

Please, enjoy the games, atmosphere and our community with us!  

Decorum of All Attendees:

OBA strives to be a respected association in the province.  We offer year-round programming at a high level.  We ask our teams and families to represent OBA in the best demeanor at all events.  We are asking the same of our visiting teams, coaches, officials and their families.

Every location will have at least one gym host along with the hosting team’s representative.  That host is more than a gym monitor reporting scores.  They are there to host everyone in the gym including players, coaches, officials, families and fans to make sure they are having a fabulous time.  

Our volunteer hosts will be in constant contact with the coaches and officials and monitoring orderliness in the gyms.  They are also there to answer questions that may pop up.   Inappropriate behavior will be addressed and need to be corrected.  In the unlikely event where behavior is not corrected, those attendees will be asked to leave.

Prizes/Gifts:

Every team member and coach has been allocated to receive a tournament T-shirt.  The gym host will deliver T-shirts.  In addition, we have some very exciting draw prizes donated by local businesses.  These draw prizes will be announced at the Saturday games.  They will be up for viewing at each venue.  In addition to the above, we will have give-a-ways.

Awards:

Every age group will be awarded Player of the Game accolades and a gift at the end of each game.  The tournament host will ask each coach to provide a Player of the Game from their own team.  The teams will line up at centre court and the host will announce the players to all the attendees in the gym.  The Player of the Game’s names will then be posted on the wall beside the tournament draw and scoresheets.

There will be medals for each team in every division placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd.  The presentation will happen at the end of each medal game after the Player of the Game awards are announced.

Tournament Format(s):

Each age division is participating in their own age bracket.  There is only 1 age bracket per division.  

To help determine standings where there are tied teams after their first round games, ties will be broken by:

1) Number of wins

2) Head to Head wins with the tied teams

3) Points against (not points for) for the tied teams for both of their game’s played (total points against)

4) The last determining factor will be the Club's proximities to Okotoks (furthest team from Okotoks will be the tie breaker)

Age Division Rules:

On court Warm-ups will be granted according to the amount of time between games.  We have allocated time between games.  The tournament host will be in contact with the waiting teams to determine an appropriate on court warm-up time.   

Players are to play on only ONE team in our tournament. Clubs with multiple teams or teams from different clubs cannot move players around from team to team. If a special situation arises whereby a player is called ‘up’ to play on another team (due to injury or sickness), the tournament committee must be contacted in advance of the game(s). Only players from a current roster can play during the tournament.  Local ASAA FIBA rules will apply with the following adaptations:

• U13 Girls/Boys = a size 6 ball will be used
• No Zone defence in the front court
• 20 point no press rule
• Four 10 minute, stop-time quarters, with a 3-minute half time
• 4 timeouts with 2 in the first two quarters and 2 in the last two quarters
• If overtime is needed, the game will be determined by the first team to score 4 points.  1 timeout will be granted in overtime.

• U15 Girls and HS Girls = a size 6 ball will be used
• 20 point no press rule
• U15 Girls will not play zone in the front court
• Four 10 minute, stop-time quarters, with a 3-minute half time
• 4 timeouts with 2 in the first two quarters and 2 in the last two quarters
• If overtime is needed, the game will be determined by the first team to score 4 points.  1 timeout will be granted in overtime.

• U15 Boys and HS Boys = a size 7 ball will be used
• 20 point no press rule
• U15 Boys will not play zone in the front court
• Four 10 minute, stop-time quarters, with a 3-minute half time
• 4 timeouts with 2 in the first two quarters and 2 in the last two quarters
• If overtime is needed, the game will be determined by the first team to score 4 points.  1 timeout will be granted in overtime.

In the event of a team arriving late (5 minutes or more from the scheduled game time), the other team will be granted 10 points and the game shortened in order to stay on time.

The team listed first in all draws will be the home team and wear light uniforms unless other arrangements have been made before the game.

Scores will be updated in each venue and on our website - https://okotoksbasketball.ca

If a coach gets ejected from any game, that coach can no longer coach in the next game and can’t be in the venue.  If the ejection happens in the final game, then if that coach returns, the coach will still have to serve their suspension.

Venues:                                 

• To be announced in March 2024 
  

Last Words:

It is our intention to run a tournament that has an atmosphere that teams will want to come back to year to year.  Therefore, we will do everything to make this tournament a positive experience for everyone attending.  This includes players, coaches, officials and all fans.  Please help us help the players to understand that sportsmanship is key and that youth sport is special and should be treated that way.  In Alisa’s words - BE FABULOUS!!!!