Winnipeg Sea Bears named CEBL’s Franchise of the Year

Anyway you slice it, is was a historic inaugural season for the Winnipeg Sea Bears.

Lead by Canadian Elite Basketball League MVP Teddy Allen, the expansion franchise finished with the second best record in the entire league, and on Tuesday the Bears were rewarded for their remarkable season, being named the CEBL’s Franchise of the Year.

“Obviously as a new franchise, not even a year old yet, to be named franchise of the year is a huge honour, and a massive testament to the work that the people on our staff did this year,” said Jason Smith, President of the Winnipeg Sea Bears.

“Many of them started in February, and March and were able to get organized and I think put on a really great show at Canada Life Centre, and of course our players and coaches. It’s a huge honour and hopefully a sign of things to come.”

Smith was also recognized as the League’s Top Executive on Tuesday, was quick to credit the fans of Winnipeg for much of the success the club has enjoyed in its first year in the city as the Sea Bears set numerous CEBL records for attendance.

“The message from the fans is that they appreciate what we are doing, and our message back would be we are extremely humbled, we know there are so many options for people’s entertainment dollars so we do not take that lightly,” said Smith.

Despite the resounding success in year one, Smith admits there is still plenty of work to be done if the club is to achieve their ultimate goal of bringing a championship to the city of Winnipeg. But is confident their achievements this past season, will allow them to build an even stronger team for next year.

“We haven’t begun those conversations yet, cause we are letting these guys go play pro-ball somewhere else, our hope though is for sure that we will have a better shot at the players that we want, and we will be able to upgrade our team.”