Basketball has always been one of my favourite sports. It’s a great game to both watch and play, with high intensity fast plays and shots being created all the time. One of the teams I really enjoy watching is the Toronto Raptors, and recently I was fortunate enough to see them live in Victoria. This is the experience of seeing my first NBA live-action game.
One of my father’s cousins lives in Victoria, and he is the Athletics Director at the University of Victoria. Recently, he designed a sports venue, a three thousand seat stadium for the University’s basketball team, the UVIC Vikings, to play and practice in. The CARSA facility is state of the art, having retractable seats, sky lights and much more. It is a world class facility, and that is exactly why the Toronto Raptors asked him if they could host their training camp and team scrimmages. They personally emailed my dad’s cousin, and he was ecstatic. I think anyone would be excited to have a professional basketball team play in your stadium. That has got to be a great accomplishment.
The Stadium which seats over 3000 fans
Because of our special relation to the University and my dad’s cousin, we got court side tickets to the scrimmage. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see my first NBA game and to see some of the players. When I got the news that my family would be going to the game, it was around a month before the set date, and that entire month of waiting was definitely worth it.
Two weeks before the game, we went to go visit my grandparents (who live ten minutes away from the university) and my dad’s cousins and his family. The following day we got an inside tour of CARSA from my cousins. We got to see all of the sports facilities and stations, as well as the stadium itself, which was amazing. I could not wait until I got to see my favourite NBA team.
The Air Canada Center in Toronto, where they are portraying the Popular Motto, “We the North”, which symbolizes Canada
A month passed by and it was finally time to take the ferry and see the Raptors. Once we got to Victoria, I visited my grandparents, had dinner and afterwards began walking to the stadium. Once we all got there, the place was packed. Thousands of fans, waiting in line to see the Raptors. Having Canada’s team all the way out east, it was a great idea to have the Raptors all the way out west to give the rest of Canada some love from the franchise.
After waiting for what seemed like hours, we finally got inside. The stadium looked a lot different from when I first saw it, with the seats now out and fans all around the venue. It was a unique sight.
Once the game was underway, the fans in and around the stadium were excited, and so was I. The atmosphere was great, full of many anxious fans waiting to see the first baskets. I had an awesome time in the front row. I didn’t realize how big the players are until they came near me during the game, some of them standing over seven feet tall.
My Brother and I Standing by the Bleachers after the Game
This was definitely an experience to remember, as I had an amazing time watching the game court side. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to meet the players before or after the game, but maybe sometime in the future I will.
So that was my Toronto Raptors experience in Victoria. You should check out my other experiences with basketball here.
That’s all from me, see ya in the next post!