A highly anticipated exhibition basketball game scheduled for March at UBC between elite Ontario and California high schools was cancelled today because organizers fear the U.S. travel ban could snare players crossing the border.
The VanCity High School Basketball Showcase between the Orangeville Prep Bears from Ontario and Prolific Prep from Napa, Calif., was scheduled for March 18 at UBC鈥檚 War Memorial Gym.
The director of operations at the U.S. high school said his basketball program counts eight international players, including six-foot-seven Sudan-born Canadian .
鈥溾�ith the uncertainties of our new and current administration in Washington D.C. as it pertains to foreign policy, we feel it is prudent to evaluate and wait for some of these new policies to either be upheld or dissolved by the higher courts in our country, and make decisions after these policies are entrenched in stone,鈥� said Phillipe Doherty in a news release.
鈥淎t this current moment we do not want to subject our kids to uncertainties and constantly changing foreign policies, so we are going to wait until we get more clarity on the new proposed legislations by this current administration on Capitol Hill,鈥� he said.
Kigab moved with his family to St. Catherine's Ont. when he was nine years old, according to the city newspaper. The Grade 12 athlete has committed to the NCAA Div. 1 Oregon Ducks.
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of making a lot of noise in his Sr. campaign w/Prolific Prep. 猬嗭笍
鈥� Huggy庐 (@huggytdot)
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In their prepared statement, the tournament organizers cited the executive order of U.S. President Donald Trump as reason for the game's move out of 麻豆传媒映画and Canada.
鈥淭he VanCity Showcase is not willing to subject Prolific Prep鈥檚 international student-athletes to the risks associated with the Trump administration travel bans and changing U.S. foreign policy," they wrote.
Trump issued what he said was a temporary ban on immigrants from seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen. Trump also put a halt to all refugees entering the U.S. for three months and all Syrian refugees indefinitely. The bans were since overruled by multiple judges and also face , but how individuals will be processed remains highly uncertain at all entry points.
The roster for Prolific Prep includes athletes with ties to Guinea, Ghana, Nigeria, Mali and Slovakia as well as the Canadian player born in Sudan.
A spokesman for UBC Athletics said the university was sympathetic to the high school鈥檚 dilemma.
鈥淲e are disappointed it turned out this way, but we understand their decision and we hope in the coming years we will have the opportunity to host in the future,鈥� said Len Catling, a director of communications at UBC. "It's a great event and a chance to showcase some of the best players in these two countries to the basketball hotbed that is Metro Vancouver."
Professional and collegiate Sudanese athletes have also freedom of movement since the ban last month. In recent years, central and eastern African countries such as Sudan have become a 听for high school basketball recruiters seeking talent.
Among the four UBC Thunderbird programs that travel to the U.S. for league competition, including baseball, softball, golf and athletics, there are no athletes who are expected to be targeted in the U.S. ban, said Catling.
The exhibition game will relocate to Sacramento, Calif. on March. 18 and will be renamed the Cali vs Canada Showdown.听
