Sea Bears partner with True North Youth Foundation to donate 2024 Cambrian Credit Union 50/50 proceeds

WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Sea Bears of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) have partnered with the True North Youth Foundation to operate the 50/50 at home games. Full proceeds of the Cambrian Credit Union 50/50 program will benefit Buckets and Borders and Project 11. The Sea Bears give their sincerest thanks to their fans for supporting the draw, which will serve thousands of local youth through the funds raised.

Seventy percent of the proceeds helped fund the Mayfair Project, a collaboration between the Sea Bears, Buckets and Borders and Payworks to restore the outdoor court space at the corner of Donald St. and River Ave.

The initiative included the addition of an entirely new court alongside a refurbishment of the space’s existing court with new backboards, stanchions and rims. The finished product was unveiled in a community celebration event early last month.

“The Sea Bears have become a great partner of Buckets & Borders and share a collective interest in our mandate to improve communities and bring people together,” said Buckets and Borders CEO and co-founder Justin Lee. “The Mayfair project continues to grow basketball across Manitoba, and we couldn’t have done that without the support of the Sea Bears.”

Alongside the contributions from the 50/50 proceeds, the restoration was supported by funding from the Province of Manitoba for the Sea Bears’ hosting of CEBL Championship Weekend next season. 

The remaining funds will support Project 11, an initiative established by the True North Youth Foundation in honour of Rick Rypien, a former Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose player. Having experienced mental health challenges for much of his life before his passing in 2011, Rypien was an advocate for accessible mental health education and support for youth. Since its inception in 2012, Project 11 has grown to offer free in-classroom mental health programming to kids from grades K-12 in both English and French.

“I want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Winnipeg Sea Bears and their incredible fans for their generous support of the Cambrian Credit Union 50/50 program. The funds raised are making a significant impact in our community by helping thousands of local youth thrive through the power of sports and mental health education," said Dwayne Green, executive director of the True North Youth Foundation.

“We’re thrilled to be able to support the amazing work done by both Buckets & Borders and Project 11, who make foundational differences in the lives of Winnipeg youth. We’d like to thank our incredible fans for supporting the 50/50 all season long,” said Jason Smith, president of the Winnipeg Sea Bears. 

The Sea Bears would also like to extend a thank-you to Cambrian Credit Union for their support of the 50/50 program since day one.       

The Sea Bears will now turn their focus to next season as the host team of Championship Weekend 2025. The team has partnered with the Province of Manitoba and City of Winnipeg to host the weekend-long basketball festival surrounding the league’s final and semifinal games.

2025 season tickets are available at an early bird rate now! For more information, visit seabears.ca/tickets.

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About the Winnipeg Sea Bears

The Winnipeg Sea Bears joined the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) as an expansion franchise in 2023. The city's only professional basketball team plays out of Canada Life Centre from May to August in a 20-game regular season schedule. Winnipeg businessman and lawyer David Asper is the organization's owner and chairman. 

More information on the Sea Bears can be found at seabears.ca and @wpgseabears on Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn & Facebook.

About the CEBL

A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 73% of its 2023 rosters being Canadian. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.

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