Edmonton: Exactly where women’s sports take centre stage
It is no secret that Edmonton is a city that centres itself about sports.
The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Edmonton Oilers cemented the city’s sports reputation with their 1980s dynasty status, birthing the tagline “City of Champions” that is nonetheless utilized to describe Edmonton currently. The legacy of the Oilers’ Stanley Cup wins lives on and not just by way of the present group of hockey stars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Enter Edmonton’s ICE District, Canada’s biggest mixed-use and entertainment district, positioned in downtown Edmonton. The ICE District is household to an array of premium workplace spaces, higher-finish residences, a luxury hotel, boutique shops and restaurants, all anchored by Rogers Spot, a state-of-the-art sport and entertainment facility, and household to the Oilers.
Space in the district is not just reserved for hockey, but for a multitude of activities. The ICE District Plaza includes 50,000 sq. ft. of space to host markets, festivals, concerts, and other substantial gatherings. It is also household to the brand-new Fan Park, which is a multi-use space that hosts year-round events and neighborhood programming. The ICE District is Edmonton’s 1-cease place for sport-hosting and entertainment.
The ICE District Plaza is the new town square of downtown Edmonton (Supply: ICE District)
2023 summer season sports to heat up the ICE District
Summer season 2023 will have the district activated in techniques under no circumstances ahead of observed, bringing a new wave of sporting events to the centre of the city. Two big events are set to take location in the ICE District Plaza and Fan Park this summer season – the 2023 Volleyball Globe Beach Pro Tour and the 2023 Fiba 3×3 Globe Tour & Fiba 3×3 Women’s Series.
The Volleyball Globe Beach Pro Tour is scheduled to arrive in Edmonton’s ICE District from 20th to 23rd July. The Beach Pro Tour is the annual international circuit featuring the most effective 24 teams in the globe competing for millions in prize revenue and globe ranking points. With 3 levels of events and the finals culminating at the finish of the season, the tour travels all through the year and across the globe in amazing areas and iconic cities.
Edmonton has previously staged 3×3 events in 208, 2019 and 2022
The following weekend, the 2023 Fiba 3×3 Globe Tour will take location in the ICE District Plaza and Fan Park. Right after staging tremendously profitable Fiba 3×3 Challenger events in 2018, 2019 and 2022, Edmonton has been named an exclusive Canadian host of the 3×3 Fiba Globe Tour, the flagship competitors of the Fiba 3×3 qualified season, for the subsequent 3 years. Twelve of the most effective men’s teams from about the globe will compete for beneficial Olympic qualifying points for their nations when the Fiba 3×3 Globe Tour tends to make its Edmonton debut.
Each events will take location in conjunction with Taste of Edmonton, Canada’s biggest meals festival and absolutely free outside concert series with dishes from more than 50 locally owned restaurants and globe-class performances – the great way to complement the events’ festival-like atmospheres.
A celebration of women’s sports
The Volleyball Globe Pro Beach Tour and Fiba 3×3 Series each include females-dominating elements that are confident to inspire. The city’s location management and marketing and advertising organisation, Discover Edmonton, requires fantastic pride in getting in a position to shine a spotlight on females sports. This also falls inside its occasion-hosting method of guaranteeing events are diverse and leave behind a legacy.
“The Fiba 3×3 tournament culminates about the Women’s Series Final, the great testament to Edmonton’s wealthy history of international women’s basketball,” says Janelle Janis, executive director of events and small business improvement with Discover Edmonton.
The Volleyball Globe Beach Pro Tour will arrive in Edmonton in July (Supply: Volleyball Globe)
Edmonton has served as a coaching household of the Canadian senior women’s national group due to the fact 2013. Hometown heroes Katherine Plouffe and Michell Plouffe will lead the quantity 1-ranked Canadian group into action at the 2023 Fiba 3×3 Women’s Series, which functions the top rated women’s national teams also vying for Paris 2024 Olympic berths.
On top rated of this, the Volleyball Beach Pro Tour will welcome Group Canada’s outstanding women’s group. Each women’s teams – Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes and Bansley and Brandei Wilkerson – certified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and have been quarterfinalists.
In a male-dominated sports business, Edmonton appears forward to amplifying the dialogue about women’s sports in the fight to offer equal sources and coverage to women’s and men’s sports.
Edmonton has the infrastructure and passion to host profitable and inclusive big sporting events and will continue to leverage its distinctive multi-sport venues, like the ICE District, to bring several a lot more globe-renowned events in the years to come.
This function types component of SportsPro’s Reside Events Week, a week of coverage exploring how promoters and host destinations are bringing events to life, as nicely as how venue operators and their suppliers are navigating newfound financial pressures. Click right here to access a lot more exclusive content material and sign up to the SportsPro Each day newsletter right here to get each day insights direct to your inbox.
