For Michael Bartlett, it was a dream come true.
The CEO of Canada Basketball said the organization and Humber Polytechnic have been dedicated since day one to creating a high-performance base for community benefit.
“We were actually tapped on the shoulder as one of a select number of sports to bring an advanced proposal together. The good news is, we had an advanced proposal ready,” Bartlett said. “We were ready, and we put out the shot when they asked, and we sunk it.”
Bartlett said that while both institutions had previously explored this move with other partners, the alignment wasn’t right until now. Finalizing the funding took time.
“It came down to the right place, right time, right ask, and right funding pathway. It took a while to get there, but when it got there, things moved really quickly,” he said.
The concept is decades old, although they had only five business days to pull the final announcement together.
“Canada Basketball has been talking about a national training centre, and we found it in our board folder from the mid-‘90s,” Bartlett said.
“The board at the time was talking about legacy from those moments, and how a home for Canadian basketball and specifically for training athletes, this would potentially be a tipping point for the development of the athlete pipeline," he said.
Bartlett said they were notified five business days before the event to pull it off and make it successful.
“The announcement itself, like, what an absolute buzz in the building. All branches of government were touched by the way sport and basketball showed up,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett said the initiative will be holistic, extending beyond athletic training to provide dedicated learning and employment opportunities for Humber students. Through this partnership, students will gain direct pathways into national teams and other Canadian basketball programs.
“The Canadian government has placed importance on building in Canada and the role that sport plays in building pride in Canada,” Bartlett said.
