Bedford Road Invitational Tournament

The Bedford Road Invitational Tournament (BRIT) is one of the most prestigious, and largest boys high school basketball tournaments in all of Canada. It takes place every January at Bedford Road Collegiate in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The current format has 12 schools take part in the tournament. Some notable alumni of BRIT include Martin Riley, Brent Charleton, Karl Tilleman, John Hatch, Byron Tokarchuk, Eric Mobley, and Robert Sacre.

History

BRIT began in the fall of 1968 with only Saskatoon city school invited to the tournament. The following year, schools from Regina and Weyburn were invited, making it a provincial-wide tournament. In 1972, schools from outside of Saskatchewan were invited for the first time. Winnipeg Sisler and Calgary E.P. Scarlett were invited and the magnitude of the tournament began to grow with the inviting of out-of-province teams.

In 1975, the tournament moved from December to its current January time frame. Teams from British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec made their first appearances during the late 1970s. In 1988, the first American team entered the tournament, the New York Gauchos, and they became the first foreign school to win the tournament. In 1998, the tournament format expanded to the current 12-team format. In 2004, the first non North American team entered the tournament as Scots College came from Sydney, Australia to take part. BRIT is one of the major sporting events on the Saskatoon sporting calendar. The tournament is attended by scouts of many colleges and universities as BRIT is one of the premier high school tournaments in all of Canada.

In 2020, the tournament was held for the 52nd time. Vancouver Handsworth won the title for the fifth time in their school history. Teams came from British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec.

Champions

* 1968 - Saskatoon Bedford Road
* 1969 - Regina Sheldon-Williams
* 1970 - Regina Sheldon-Williams
* 1971 - Saskatoon Mount Royal
* 1972 - Winnipeg Sisler
* 1973 - Regina Sheldon-Williams
* 1975 - Regina Sheldon-Williams
* 1976 - Regina Sheldon-Williams
* 1977 - Burnaby (B.C.) South
* 1978 - Calgary Sir Winston Churchill
* 1979 - Clearbrook (B.C.) Mennonite Educational Institute
* 1980 - Clearbrook (B.C.) Mennonite Educational Institute
* 1981 - Ottawa Bell
* 1982 - Ottawa Bell
* 1983 - Ottawa St. Pius X
* 1984 - Calgary E.P. Scarlett
* 1985 - Edmonton M.E. Lazerte
* 1986 - Edmonton M.E. Lazerte
* 1987 - Winnipeg Kelvin
* 1988 - New York Gauchos
* 1989 - Winnipeg Windsor Park
* 1990 - Saskatoon Walter Murray
* 1991 - Edmonton Harry Ainley
* 1992 - Edmonton Harry Ainley
* 1993 - Ottawa Nepean
* 1994 - Pitt Meadows (B.C.)
* 1995 - Calgary Bishop Caroll
* 1996 - Edmonton M.E. Lazerte
* 1997 - Saskatoon Holy Cross
* 1998 - North Vancouver - Carson Graham
* 1999 - Regina Balfour
* 2000 - Edmonton Ross Sheppard
* 2001 - Edmonton Ross Sheppard
* 2002 - Calgary Lester B. Pearson
* 2003 - Saskatoon Holy Cross
* 2004 - Saskatoon Holy Cross
* 2005 - North Vancouver - Handsworth
* 2006 - North Vancouver - Handsworth
* 2007 - North Vancouver - Handsworth
* 2008 - Vancouver College
* 2009 - Vancouver College
* 2010 - Pitt Meadows (B.C.)
* 2011 - Vancouver St. George's
* 2012 - The Scots College (Australia)
* 2013 - Calgary Sir Winston Churchill
* 2014 - Regina LeBoldus
* 2015 - Regina LeBoldus
* 2016 - Edmonton Archbishop O'Leary
* 2017 - Edmonton St. Francis Xavier
* 2018 - North Vancouver - Handsworth
* 2019 - Calgary Bishop McNally
* 2020 - North Vancouver - Handsworth
* 2021 - Cancelled due to COVID-19
* 2022 - Cancelled due to COVID-19

External links

*{{official, http://www.britbasketball.net

Sport in Saskatoon