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Professional basketball | The Montreal Alliance is born

Since the time that one speaks about it, it is done. Montreal’s new professional basketball team is born. And it’s called the Alliance de Montréal.




Katherine Harvey-Pinard

Katherine Harvey-Pinard
Press

The big unveiling took place Wednesday afternoon between the walls of the Verdun Auditorium, which will be the home of the new team of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (LECB).

A festive atmosphere reigned in the building, in the large space that separates the Scotty-Bowman and Denis-Savard rinks, where many players from the Montreal sports community gathered. It was the culmination of a long process led, among others, by Alliance vice-president Annie Larouche.

“I’m very happy to be here, but I can’t wait to see you here, across the windows, as you wear our team colors and cheer on our players,” he said. -she launched at the microphone.

PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS

The mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante (in the foreground), accompanied by Annie Larouche, vice-president of the Alliance, and Jean-François Parenteau, mayor of the borough of Verdun

Over the past few months, more than 1,500 people have taken the poll to find the team’s name. Three of them proposed the Alliance. But the final choice was really made one day in May, when Mr.me Larouche was returning from a visit to his hairdresser.

“For two hours she said to me: ‘It has to be called the Alliance. When I was young, I played outside. It’s my youth, basketball, and no matter what gender, age, or gang you belonged to, everyone was on the court. It’s community and inclusion, it’s unifying ””, said Mme Larouche at Press.

This proposal perfectly matched the different qualifiers often used in the responses to the survey: “diversity”, “inclusion”, “multicultural” …

“Immediately after, I had a meeting with the league, remembers Mme Larouche. We were suggesting names and I said, “Wait, I have to say it. They suggest the name Alliance. ” There was a long silence and Mike [Morreale] said, “That’s it, that’s our name.” ”

The logo depicts a blue and white wolf surrounded by a thin red line. A fleur-de-lys adorns the animal’s forehead.

The colors are reminiscent of those of other teams which occupy a large place in the Montreal sports landscape. We obviously think of the Montreal Canadiens.

Wolves, which live in packs, “form a group to hunt their prey, like a team that unites to win games,” said Mike Morreale, LECB commissioner and former Toronto Argonauts football player.

“We are extremely excited that you are becoming an ally, joining the Alliance and being part of this team,” he said.

PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS

Valérie Plante and Annie Larouche

Talent local

The Alliance becomes the ninth team of the LECB, born in 2019. The other teams are those of Fraser Valley, Edmonton, Saskatchewan, Guelph, Hamilton, Niagara, Ottawa and Scarborough. Montreal is the circuit’s largest market for both population and area.

“We built this team to keep growing again and again. There is a reason why we took our time to come to Montreal: we wanted to do it right, ”said Morreale, recalling the League’s desire to add a team in Quebec.

The Alliance’s arrival in the Montreal sports scene will naturally allow the population to have access to quality basketball, he argued.

“We are excited by the entertainment that we bring, by the quality of the basketball that we bring. There is no doubt that with the exception of the Toronto Raptors this is the best basketball you will see in this country. ”

This is also good news for Quebec basketball players, who will now have an option to play at home with the professionals.

“We have 55,000 members of the Federation, 45,000 of whom are players,” said Annie Larouche. Over the past five years, probably with the success of the Raptors, the growth of basketball in Quebec and in schools has been exponential. ”

Remember that three Quebecers currently play in the NBA and that no less than 30, including 24 Montrealers, play in NCAA Divison 1.

“We have local talent, and we can’t wait to give our Quebecers the opportunity to play at home, in front of their family and friends,” said Annie Larouche.

“We want local players, so people can say to themselves, ‘I went to school with this player’ or ‘He lived on my street’. We want to grow the community, ”said Mike Morreale.

“We can very well imagine in a few years the impact that the Alliance will have on the youth of Montreal,” also underlined the mayor of the borough of Verdun, Jean-François Parenteau. Great basketball stars, there will continue to be some in Montreal. ”

The LECB season runs from May to August, after the NBA season. Last summer, seven players with experience in the NBA and 17 in the G-League, the NBA development circuit, played for a team on the Canadian circuit.

The Alliance will therefore play its first game in May 2022. The Scottie-Bowman rink will then be converted into a gymnasium until the end of the season.

Until then, the organization still has a lot of work ahead of it. The next step will be to appoint its general manager, which should be done in the coming weeks, said Annie Larouche. The choice of head coach and players will come next.

Note that it is already possible for future supporters to purchase a season pass on the Alliance website.

Visit the Alliance website

Good for the economy

The mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, was delighted to see a basketball team set up in Verdun, a “booming” neighborhood.

“It’s undeniable that basketball is in the hearts of Montrealers. It always takes more importance and it is always more and more popular. ”

“It’s good for the economy,” she added. You want to see a game: you take the metro to come here, you stay and then have a meal, you enjoy the environment. I think it will bring a lot of momentum and energy to the Montreal sports scene. ”

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