The training camp at UVic's CARSA Gym is closed to the public — except for the intra-squad game Friday night at the 7,000-seat Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
There will be something not seen even a decade ago when the Toronto Raptors hold their 2022-23 NBA training camp Tuesday through Saturday at CARSA Gym on the University of Victoria campus: two Canadian players.
The intra-squad game played in 2017 in CARSA Gym, the last time the Raptors held training camp in Victoria, also sold out in the 2,300-seat facility. The Canada-Argentina 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifying game last month at the Memorial Centre attracted 7,000 fans. The Tokyo Olympics qualifying tournament last summer at the Memorial Centre was also sold out before public health pandemic restrictions limited attendance to zero for the preliminary round and to just 10 per cent for the playoff round.
“You go to parks and you see a lot of kids shooting buckets that I didn’t notice when I first got to Toronto. Now when I go to a park there’s all kinds of kids out there shooting. On all fronts, it’s all positive.”