ST CATHARINES (FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018) - A week of events is being planned for Pen Centre to welcome the best young basketball players from throughout the Americas when they arrive in Niagara for the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018.

“With some of the top players in the Americas set to arrive in the Niagara region in just a few weeks, we wanted to make sure their experience at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018 is a memorable one. For us that begins with some exciting pre-tournament community engagement events we have planned at the Pen Centre.” – Bryan Crawford, Senior Director of Operations for Canada Basketball.

"The idea is to do something that I've not seen yet," said Bawe Nsame co-founder of B&M Agency.

The local sports marketing firm and Canada Basketball have organized a series of pre-tournament community engagement events from June 1 to 8 at the shopping centre, leading up to the start of the FIBA U-18 Americas Championship that take place from June 10 to 16 at Meridian Centre.

"It's a great time," Nsame said. "We really put in the work to create an experience."

The event will feature interactive attractions for basketball fans of all ages will be set up including virtual reality basketball, arcade games, a digital photo booth, a giant welcome card to sign, wish all teams good luck and about 10 televisions showing highlights about the tournament.

The continental championship will be unique, Nsame said "having a pre-event like this and bringing the community together I think says a lot as well."

He said the event will include a welcome for each of the teams as they arrive, culminating in a rally for Team Canada.

"When team Canada arrives on Friday (June 8) the idea is to have a pep rally to get the crowd going … just to get everyone pumped up. They're the home team. It's our country," he said.

"We're grateful for the Pen Centre. They've been working really closely with us," he said, adding basketball fans might also have an opportunity to shop around and see what the stores are offering.

"This event is for the whole community," culminated Nsame.

The FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018 to be played June 10-16 in the Meridian Centre, will feature the participation of Argentina, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Puerto Rico, USA and host Canada. The top four teams of the continental championship will earn tickets to the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019.

FIBA