Port Alberni will take its fifth turn at hosting the BC Secondary School Provincial Wrestling Championships in 2018.
“The championships will be on March 1–3, 2018,” said Alberni Wrestling’s Tom McEvay.
He hopes to have a strong showing from Port Alberni.
“One of the reasons we bid is because we are following the development of our team at ADSS,” McEvay said.
“Both our boys team and our girls team will be extremely competitive” by 2018.
While the host city role is secured, the host venue has yet to be decided.
“The choices right now are at the high school itself or at the Multiplex or at the Athletic Hall,” McEvay said.
“The issue with the high school is size.”
The tournament, which Port Alberni has hosted four times before, could draw up to 600 athletes and up to 2,000 spectators—much more than the new Alberni District Secondary main gym can hold.
“We need to run a minimum of six mats and we can’t get six mats into the main gym at ADSS and also have the bleachers out and room for everything,” said McEvay.
When the Alberni Invitational came back to the high school after years away, it had to be downsized to 400 players—something that’s not possible with the provincial championships.
“In the provincials you have to be able to accommodate those that qualify,” McEvay said.
The last time the provincials were hosted at the high school it was at the old Burde Street building and the tournament didn’t include female wrestlers.
Since then, it’s been hosted at the both the old Athletic Hall and Glenwood Centre, as well as the Multiplex.
The latter is looking as the most likely option, given its capacity to host the entire event.
“It’s looking more and more like it will be at the Multiplex, which is where we hosted it in 2008,” McEvay said.
reporter@albernivalleynews.com