The Steve Nash Youth Basketball Program for St. Albert SLAM initiation, junior and mini players tips off at 9 a.m. Saturday at Ecole Secondaire Marguerite d’Youville School.
The SLAM players will follow the program, which provides structure and development in line with Canada’s Long Term Athlete Development Model, throughout the season.
A 20-per-cent increase in registrations of more than 280 players between the ages of five and 15, including nearly 100 K-3 youths, has SLAM planning on putting in 16 teams in the Edmonton Youth Basketball Association, which is four more than last season.
The SLAM midget A females under head coach Rick Stanley are looking to defend their EYBA and provincial titles after going 20-0 overall last season.
There are still spots open in mini girls and the K-4 age division.
Visit www.stalbertslam.com for more information.
The midget AAA female St. Albert Slash are skating in the annual NAIT Blue/Gold exhibition tournament this weekend at NAIT Arena.
Game times are 12:15 p.m. Friday against the Red Deer Chiefs, the 2015 Esso Cup silver medallists as the host team, 8 a.m. Saturday against the Calgary Fire and 11:15 a.m. Sunday against the Peace Country Storm.
The deadline to register online for the 13th annual St. Albert Fall Challenge is Sept. 17.
As of Sunday, 122 runners and walkers had signed up through www.events.runningroom.com for the 21.1-kilometre half-marathon and the 10-km and five-km events.
Kingswood Park is the on Sept. 20 race venue and the start times are 8 a.m. for the half-marathon walk and 9 a.m. for the half-marathon run, 10-km run/walk and five-km run/walk on the Red Willow trails.
The .5-km kids’ race goes at 11:30 a.m. but pre-registration is not required.
There were 198 finishers in the half-marathon run/walk, 10-km run/walk and five-km run/walk last year, compared to 275 in 2013 and 354 in 2012.
The 2014 half-marathon winner was Chris Stone of Edmonton in one hour, 15 minutes and 24 seconds as 91 runners completed the race, down from 130 finishers in 2013 and 173 in 2012.
The fastest female was Reina Ainsworth of Edmonton at 1:30:33 for third place overall. The third-place female in last month’s Edmonton Marathon for 24th place overall at 3:01:38 is on the confirmation list for this year’s half-marathon.
The Fall Challenge is sponsored by the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club.
Visit www.sva-club.com for more information.
