Sea Bears preparing for new season as training camp begins

There’s plenty of excitement surrounding the Winnipeg Sea Bears for day one of training camp, as they embark on a new season. It’s a year with lots of new faces, and lots of opportunity, being the host city of the championship weekend, they have an automatic bid to the semi-finals.

“I really love the maturity, the focus, and I’m hoping that pays us back as we go through the season,” said Sea Bears’ head coach Mike Taylor.

“We want to go through the process the same way, we want to go through the process without skipping steps. We want to establish the team, the core values, the habits, the systems.”

One of the keys to establishing those habits will be newcomer Terry Roberts, a former NBA G League player with the Brooklyn Nets affiliate. Roberts has a harrowing story; he spent a full year away from basketball recovering after being shot in 2024.  But he says he is happy to be here in Winnipeg.

“I’m just grateful, you know? Just grateful to be here, just grateful to be here, let alone playing basketball, so just going into every day with a chip, knowing that it could have been different,” Roberts explained.

Also on the squad this season are former local collegiate stars Shawn Maranan from U of W, and Mason Kraus from U of M.  Both of whom have spent time on the practice roster before. Krause was selected in the CEBL draft this summer.

“The fans are insane, and from having maybe at U of M, 3,000 on a good day, now there’s like 10,000 people watching and supporting, and it’s awesome, it’s a dream come true to be honest,” said Kraus.

Taylor adds, “I’m very thankful that we have so many good Winnipeg players on the roster. I think it’s a great thing for the fans, for the organization, and guys like Mason and Shaun, we’re really optimistic and hopeful that we can get them some opportunities this year.”

Fans will get their first look at the new Sea Bears squad on Friday, May 16, for the season opener at Canada Life Centre.