The basketball organization Les Astéries invites the population of Victoriaville and its region to come and cheer on the players on April 1, 2 and 3 during the 38th edition of the Classique de basketball des Astéries. This event, which has earned the reputation of being the most important women’s basketball tournament in Canada, had to take a break in 2021 due to the health crisis. This cancellation was the second in its 40-year history.
The event will take off on its usual sports platforms. Thus, the kick-off will be at Le boisé high school at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 1st. Subsequently, some 210 games will follow one another simultaneously on one of the 16 sets located on the 9 sites that are: Le boisé high school, Cégep de Victoriaville, Le tandem high school, the la Myriade school, Pie-X school, Le Manège school, Notre-Dame des Bois-Francs school, the Agri-Sports pavilion and the Clarétain College. For the occasion, spectators will have the opportunity to see more than 80 teams from across Quebec evolve.
“The start of this great tournament is marked by the additional challenge of restarting the machine after the forced shutdown last year. We had to replace some managers who left the organization, recontact all our partners who fortunately are all back with us. Finally, we must also deal with public health rules. But that does not affect the good mood of our volunteers and they are well motivated to welcome all these young people,” said Andrée Brière, president of the Astéries de Victoriaville.
In addition, an important step will mark this 38th edition, because after 16 years at the head of the Classique des Astéries, Jacques Provencher has decided to retire. “The time has come to make room for new blood to bring renewal to this tournament. A person who will know how to continue to make it a better tournament, by preserving and increasing the quality that he has always been able to demonstrate,” underlined Jacques Provencher.
And the organization has found the “rare pearl” in the person of Ms. Mélina Dupuis. She has held the position of general manager since mid-September and, since then, she has been busy with the challenge of the 2022 edition.
Ms. Dupuis is the mother of young boys involved in Vicas men’s basketball, a league supervised by the Astéries. She knows the basketball world very well, having been a volunteer parent herself. “Mélina is an excellent addition to our management team. Her involvement, her quality of work and her desire to learn make her the perfect complement to the Astéries organization team, as well as the tournament management team,” boasted Andrée Brière.
Note in closing that all information related to the tournament can be found on the website www.classiquedesasteries.com. Note also that starting this year, there will be an admission fee of $5 per day for visitors. Finally, the finals will take place on Sunday, April 3 starting at 11 a.m. at Le boisé high school and at Cégep de Victoriaville.
