1st Phil Dixon Invitational Showcase Tournament

The 1st Ever Phil Dixon Invitational Showcase Tournament

Hello coaches, Metro Prep Academy and Phil Dixon will be holding this showcase tournament on April 30th-May 2nd at University of Toronto, Mississauga. The purpose of this tournament is firstly to provide teams with a platform to play after the OFSAA season, and as well to give the players a chance to play and showcase their talent in front of almost 50 coaches from the US and Canada. The cost of the tournament will be $500 and we are trying to secure 24 teams, with 3 games minimum each. We hope to have a very successful tournament for all those teams involved and its at a great location and facility. Please contact me at anishbhalla@hotmail.com for further details and payment. I will be giving further updates on teams attending and schools coming to watch as we get them. Good luck to everyone in their playoffs.

Thank you,
Anish Bhalla

I appreciate your efforts but $500 for only 3 games? that's crazy. I get that your trying to use it as an exposure event but come on? We (coaches) know the cost to run a tournament, between facilities, refs and prizes should run about $300, maybe a touch more...$500 ??? no thanks.

Am I off base in this?

Hi coach, your concern is justified. The major cost associated with this tournament is renting the facility. The new gym at university of toronto mississauga is a great facility and we can have three games going on under one roof. However the facility is expensive to rent which is why we have this added cost. I hope the coaches understand this and would find this opportunity beneficial to their players and programs. Thanks

[quote="youngcoach"]I appreciate your efforts but $500 for only 3 games? that's crazy. I get that your trying to use it as an exposure event but come on? We (coaches) know the cost to run a tournament, between facilities, refs and prizes should run about $300, maybe a touch more...$500 ??? no thanks.

Am I off base in this?[/quote]


"young coach"

We coaches you say please, i am a coach and as a coach i would have to step up and say that its coaches like this that sometimes set bad examples for young coaches like myself. I think that what you have said is uncalled for.

i belive $500 is a good price for a tournament like this for high school teams. high school teams dont get tournaments such as this one. the facility first of all is at a university which makes the gym payments more of a cost where in high school as the host you wouldnt be paying for the cost to use your gym i would think.(correct me if im wrong)
more teams means more games played take in the fact you have to pay more refs. take also in the fact that its at an university im sure you would have extras to pay for with having people be around the whole time.

look at it like an OBA tournament where you are a team hosting a tournament and most tournaments are $500. for example i belive blessed sac holds the biggest OBA tournaments in ontario and charge the most with even more teams in the tournament for every division i just looked they charge $650. and thats not even an exposure showcase.

So this being said "youngcoach" i think your name suits you not to bash you or anything but as a coach show a bit more respect for coaches and orginizations trying to do something new for the kids and think about what your saying before you have something to say.

I would also suggest asking your players im sure they would all be in for it< dont think its about what you think.

Best of luck to the orginizers of The 1st Ever Phil Dixon Invitational Showcase Tournament know it will be a great tournament.

I agree completely with shyne08...UTM is one of the finest basketball facilities in the GTA

All the best with this tourny!

can players play in this tournament with a non-sanctioned aau team even if they are playing oba with someone else?? also what are the ages for the tournament?

i do believe youngcoach forgot that for school tournaments we do not have to rent the facility...for most high school teams $500 would be a large cost...my admin would not approve of that considering we have not paid over $300 for a tournament so youngcoach has a point in that respect...but i can certainly appreciate the effort metro prep is putting forward to hold such an event...good luck!

this may be sound like a silly question considering i have not seen metro prep's gym but why not have the event at metro prep to avoid the rental cost?

and shyne08...more teams does not mean more games per team...and blessed sac offers 5 games guaranteed with medals for each team and accounts for shot clock operators which is why theirs is the highest fee in the province...

Good luck with this, I think it is a fun idea, but you might find that many coaches and schools do not want to prolong the high school season beyond their scheduled playoffs or Ofsaa as they need closure to their seasons and the schools may want to move on to other sports/activities.

While I can appreciate the fact that renting a university gym costs more, let's not forget that there are plenty of high school tournaments held in universities and while some are sponsored by the schools, some are not and none of them run anywhere close to this cost.

Also, while the cost of the facility might be high, there are three games running at a time so that is six teams subsidizing the cost per game slot.

I think this is as much about filling the coffers as it is about exposing players.

I also wonder if some of the costs are going towards the perks needed to lure scouts to this tournament over the many other ones going on across North America at the club level in the spring.

More power to you if you can fill the tournament but the timing and the cost will almost certainly lead most high school teams to conclude, thanks but no thanks.

Thanks for the reply metrocoach. I like the idea of the event and the timing, simply concerned about the cost.

To shyne08, how am I setting a bad example for young coaches? Inquiring about the costs of an event is not a bad example. I understand how much things costs, and yes I understand that facilities are often free for a high school. I'm not putting down the event in the least, any exposure is great. I simply believe that the costs are too high.

Best of luck with your tournament, I hope it goes well.

Hello Everyone, I know nothing has been posted on this tournament as of late, as we are trying to get a lot of the background things organized before we take a tournament team to Italy next week.

I wanted to let everyone know that the tournament fee has been dropped to $450 as we have secured some sponsors.

Also, we have 4 teams signed up so far and would love any more interested teams. It will be a great tournament with a lot of great competition and the opportunity to play in front of almost 30 university coaches. Phil Dixon is even working on getting the University of Utah and UCLA to come down as well. Please email anishbhalla@hotmail.com for more information

Thanks,
Anish

So only 4 of 24 teams signed up and college/university coaches went from 50 to 30? doesnt sound like much of an event! good luck with it though. maybe that $50 decrease in price will help lol

will 30 coaches come down for 40-48 student-athletes???? (4 teams x 12 players...roughly)????

is this for real??? i want to bring a team... who are the 4 teams...

thanks Anesh!

Why would anyone play in this tournament??

This is an obvious attempt for Metro Prep to begin the recruiting process. What league do they play in? CISSA??

I heard that they have already taken players from other schools.

anyone have any info?? let the exposure begin!!

I do not believe they played in a league this year. They just played exhibition games I believe.

Please correct me if I am mistaken!

They were scheduled originally to compete in the TDCAA but did not!

I believe too many of their players would not have been eligible until next season, as the TDCAA and the PSAA have different eligibility rules. I believe their coach told me they will play in the TDCAA next season.

Yes that is my understanding as well!

The TDCAA has some big changes in the works if things fall into place.

I am not at liberty to discuss these changes until we see how things shake out!

Will they be going with the rumoured city-wide elite division?

Well, I actual hope this tournament does have some success. We need some big tournaments to draw even some American competitors to start happening up here in the T-Dot! I don't know if this can be one of them but, I wish it success. Especially knowing that it is being named after one of the best players to dominate the high school level in Canadian basketball history in Phillip Dixon. Support is what we need. Tearing down is not an option if we are trying to build on the success and potential that we have in the GTA and the country! Not implying that people are downing this tourney but, it does seem that it is leaning that way. If Phil name is on this, I must definetly will come out and support it!

What is so special about Phil's name? Didn't he play at UCONN or something?

Utah

i hope i dont come off as negative because i genuinely intend on being positive....

i think in a situation like this where there is an added cost, people need to know what they are paying for, (sayin increased rent is not enough) i would assume that many AD's would fear this tourney, thinking it might just be a cash grab so an actual list of costs may be necessary.....why not just tell people how much money is profit from each team? unless of course that number is too high