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By Shane Clausing

pow wow invitational

Old Grande Prairie Composite High School hosts final Pow Wow Invitational basketball tournament

Feb 18, 2022 | 2:35 PM

For the final time, the Pow Wow Invitational basketball tournament is underway at Grande Prairie Composite High School and Peace Wapiti Academy (PWA).

The traditional tournament has been held and hosted by Grande Prairie Composite High School for decades in partnership with PWA.

The annual tournament attracts basketball teams from across the Peace Region, Alberta, and in some cases in years past, from around the world.

This year, the tournament will be played under the “Pow Wow” name for the final time as students and staff get ready to transition over to the new Composite High School in the fall.

Organizer and teacher Troy Sandboe tells EverythingGP they plan on giving a proper goodbye to the tournament to signal the end of an era.

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“This is going to be the last Pow Wow tournament as we move to the new building next year and rebrand the school. The name of the tournament will change next year, and I’ve got a couple of guests coming into help me with presentations during the finals and that’s Bob and Stan Neufeld,” he explained.

“Bob and Stan are brothers who taught here (at the Comp) for many years at our school and are both responsible for a lot of the school culture and history of our building. Bob is the one who came up with our school colours and team names. Stan started an intermural program at our school which is second to none in Canada. It’s an honour to have both of those guys come back into the building one more time.”

Sandboe adds this is his 28^th year involved in organizing and coaching in the tournament. He says it will be an emotional weekend for him and other staff at the school.

“I think for people like myself that have been around for a while it’ll be the end of an era,” he expressed.

“It might be a little emotional for me, I always get a little emotional anyway when it’s done and over with, but it’ll be a nice celebration and way to cap off our tournament this weekend.”

As mentioned, the tournament brings together teams from across the Peace Region and Alberta. It will be held from Feb. 18-19.

Schools participating this year on both sides of the tournament bracket include Peace River, High Level, St. Joe’s, Glenmary, Sexsmith, LaCrete, Fairview, Comp and PWA.

Sandboe says while in the early days of the tournament the Comp usually dominated the tournament but other teams in the region are catching up and creating a more level playing field.

“At one time the Composite High School was the only 4A school in northwestern Alberta and we’d play smaller schools around here all the time,” he explained.

“When Charles Spencer opened up, they became a 4A school and we became a 3A school. Certainly, over the last few years, it’s become really good competition.”

The tournament goes until Saturday night. The girls’ final is scheduled to tip-off at 7:00 p.m., while the boys’ final will follow it at 8:45 p.m.

Fans will be allowed to attend, however, capacity will be limited because of COVID-19 restrictions.