A Coffee with Jordan Baker, President, Head Coach, and GM for the Edmonton Stingers!

Join us for a coffee and chat with Jordan Baker, President, Head Coach, and General Manager for the Edmonton Stingers!

Jordan's remarkable journey began right here, growing up in a basketball family (his mother coached the U of A Pandas) before becoming a standout at Harry Ainlay and a celebrated player for the U of A. He offers an authentic look at his professional playing career, sharing stories from his time overseas in Germany, Portugal, and Japan, and the pivotal moment—a serious jaw injury—that abruptly shifted his focus from the court to the clipboard.

We track his rapid transition from player to coach, starting with local roles at Harry Ainlay and NAIT, and discuss the unexpected opportunity with the Stingers that "threw a wrench" in his original plan to become the U of A Head Coach. Jordan provides a rare, behind-the-scenes perspective on what it takes to simultaneously manage, coach, and lead an expanding professional franchise in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL).

Discover the inspiring story of how the Stingers grew their fanbase, successfully navigated the challenges of the pandemic, and built an operation focused on community accessibility. Jordan details the club's commitment to the local scene, highlighting initiatives like their post-game player autograph sessions, their innovative Basketball Bridge Program designed to connect players to opportunities, and the massive annual Holiday Hoops Tournament.

Whether you're a devoted basketball fan, interested in sports management, or just want to hear the story of an Edmonton native leaving a major mark on the city's sports scene, this episode is a must-listen. Plus, hear the charming story of how he met his wife, a Family Doctor in Edmonton, through their shared love of the game!

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Transcript

0:16

Cam. What were you telling me today about the geese? Why were we talking about geese? Because, it's, well, remember I said, I don't know if winter's coming yet. It's too warm because the geese weren't flying south. Yes. And driving to work this morning. You saw? Oh, so many geese. Like a lot of geese? Like more than like 10 geese? Oh, way more. And were they in one of those V formations? You know what? It was a bit of a crooked V. I don't know what's happening. I'm a little concerned about the geese. They're confused because it's so warm today. They're not sure where they should be going. But they know they should start heading south. It's a long journey. Well, we're heading towards winter and it is a nice day today, but the temperatures are dropping a little bit. But that's kind of cool. I've seen a few geese. Not that many, I don't think. But yeah, so fall. I would have taken a picture, but that would have been distracted driving Cam. Yes, and we don't want that. Anyway, everybody, welcome to another edition of Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. Glad that you're listening to us today and we are coming to you live from the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. So if you hear some noise in the background, coffee machines whirring, people talking, kids. No kids today. No kids today. Which is, well, we won't go there. No, we won't go there. But sometimes we have kids screaming, but not today. So hey, it's because we're in this really great coffee shop. And if you've never been to the Wall Coffee Shop in Acheson, you need to do that. And we need to let you know that Coffee In The Park is brought to you by some incredible people. First of all, Wing Snob. Wing Snob, best wings you're ever going to have, Jennifer. Fresh, never frozen, Cam. That's right, 16 flavors and four rubs. What's your favorite flavor? Well, it used, and it still is, the Snobby Q. I know, you like Snobby Q. I do, but you know what? No. I tried that, what is it, mango habanero? Oh, you tried the mango habanero. Wasn't that good? Oh, that was incredible. Listen, folks, if you've never had a mango habanero wing, you need to get down to Wing Snob. There are 10 locations in the city of Edmonton, and it's fabulous, fabulous. They have traditional and boneless, or you can get kind of half and half, and mix it all up. They have great cornbread, they have great parmesan fries. www.wingsnob.ca. That's right, I always have to make sure I get that right. Wing Snob, an amazing place if you got nothing to do for dinner tonight, stop by. Hey, if you're in Edmonton and the Oilers are playing, you can pick up the Oilers Wing Pack. That's right.$35 or something like that. It's a great deal. It's a great deal. I don't know, you get a lot of wings. You do. And a lot of stuff. And so yeah, check out Wing Snob. I promise you, best wings you ever had. Also want to thank... Our friends at Mprint Sign and Print Solutions right here in Acheson Cam. That's right. They are the preferred printer of Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. That's right. They are the preferred printer of Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. As I hold up our Coffee In The Park mugs and business cards and things like that. And if you need something printed, whether it's business cards, brochures, pamphlets, they do literally everything. They just did an amazing banner for us. Yes, they did. That's going to hang by the highway. It's going to look like our card. People are going to know who we are. They also wrap vehicles. They do. And go ahead and say it, because you say it at every podcast. I say it every time because it's so cool. They wrapped a helicopter. They wrapped an entire helicopter. Yeah. Unbelievable. Listen, these folks at Mprint are amazing. They're located right here at Acheson, but they'll do work anywhere. And so you need to get a hold of them. Jan and Don are absolutely amazing over at Mprint. They've done a bunch of stuff for us. We appreciate them. And I guarantee you, you will not be disappointed for all your printing needs at Mprint. Great people. Check them out at www.mprint.ca. That's it. So there you go, folks. So I'm really excited about today. We've had some sports people on the last while. Well, we have. Dr. Randy Gregg. That was really cool. Gene Principe. He's not really, I don't know if he... Well, he is an athlete, but he's more of an announcer. But he is an... Gene, are you an athlete? Yeah. Well, Gene, I listen to... He will listen to this because he tells me he listens. And then he's going to text me and go, Cam, I run. I'm a marathon runner. He runs like a hundred miles a day or something. But Cam, this is a first because we have yet to have this sport on the podcast. I know. We've had all the great sports on except this one. So our guest today is Jordan Baker, who is the president of the Edmonton Stingers Basketball Club. So welcome, Jordan. Welcome. Thanks for having me. Good to have you. Edmonton Stingers, everybody. That's a great basketball team here, or part of a league here in the city. You are part of the which league? The... Canadian Elite Basketball League. Canadian Elite. And how many teams? There's ten teams. Furthest west is Vancouver, all the way to Montreal in the East Come on, really? Fantastic. And I want you folks to know, this is a big deal in the city of Edmonton. And we want to try and make it an even bigger deal because it's kind of cool. So we have some questions. Jordan, we got some questions we always ask. Jennifer, take it away. We're going to take it back to the very beginning. Jordan, I believe you are a born and bred Edmontonian. That's correct. Tell us about growing up. Tell us about what your parents did and how you got into basketball. Yeah, I mean, my parents have been involved in the game for a long time. And my mom was the University of Alberta Pandas basketball head coach. So she was there for about 18 years. Yeah. Starting from when I was born all the way up to my teenage years. But grew up in Southside Edmonton, went to Harry Ainlay High School. Harry Ainlay. Played basketball there. Shout out to Harry Ainlay. I went to Ross Shep. Oh yeah. Sorry about that. Yeah. Okay, you're the first guy that's ever said that. That's okay. We'll keep going. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah. Then went to University of Alberta. Got a couple degrees from there while playing basketball. And then went overseas for three years, trying to pursue that dream of playing basketball. And then came back to Edmonton. My wife was in medical school at the U of A at the time. So we kind of settled here. And the opportunity came about, the CEBL founded in 2019. I played four years with the team before moving on to the head coach, then the general manager and the head coach, now the president, general manager, and the head coach. That's like, talk about getting promoted. That's like you were on the fast track of promotion right there. Okay, let's go back a little bit because you said some things that I found interesting aside from the, I'm sorry you went to Ross Shep, but so you graduated from Ainlay, went right in to university. Did you meet your wife in university? I actually met her with Canada Basketball Programming. Okay. So she's from Regina, but we were both centralized in a, there used to be a national training academy in Hamilton. We met each other out there when we were 18 and then went our separate ways. She went and played Division I basketball in the States. Okay. I went to U of A and we kind of reconnected once our collegiate careers were done. Right. Okay, you Div I. Where did she go? Yeah. University of Utah. Good for her. Really? Okay. Yeah. Awesome. She's a doctor? She is a doctor. Family doctor in the city. Man, that's good. Wow. Yeah. They both rose through the ranks. I was going to say they play basketball, becomes a doctor, Jordan marries her. What more could you want? This is amazing. This is pretty cool, I think. That's really awesome. Does she still play ball at all or? No. She did one year professionally over in Italy. Okay. Then after that, it was focusing on the medicine and focusing on her career a little bit. Cam, she focuses on the injuries for basketball. I was going to say, yeah. That's right. Takes care of Jordan when he gets nailed under the hoop. All right. You went to U of A, great school, great basketball. Golden Bear is fantastic, known for hockey and basketball. Volleyball as well, great team. Then you decided to leave and you went on to? My first professional contract was in Germany. Okay. Then after that, the year after I was in Portugal for a year, and I signed in Japan for my third year. I was over there for three months. One of our first games of the year, took an elbow and broke my jaw. I had to come home and get surgery and be wired shut for six weeks. So that was an unpleasant experience. But after that, I took a step back from the playing. I wanted to start my coaching career. So I joined my old high school coach at Harry Ainlay for a year, and then joined the Bears staff as an assistant for a couple of years before coaching at NAIT for three years. Then the Stinger stuff came up. I have a question just about being overseas. Yeah, I was going to say. Tell us a little bit about that experience. Playing overseas, yeah. Do you find that basketball was bigger overseas than maybe it is in Canada, or is it just different? I mean, you know, in Germany, obviously soccer is reign supreme. You've got some of the biggest teams in the top league in Germany get, you know, a little bit of funneled down money from their soccer clubs, and all of a sudden they're the most well-funded team in the country. So basketball is, you know, it's growing across the globe. I think in Canada, maybe a little bit more exponentially, but there's some established leagues in Europe. You know, you take a look at the CEBL being only in its seventh year, we just finished our seventh year, versus some leagues that have been going for, you know, 50, 60 years. So they've just got a little bit of a head start on us. Yeah. Well, I think a lot of people have the perception that basketball really is a North American sport. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if I agree with that. Yeah, I know. I mean, certainly the United States have taken it over and made it their own, but lots of history in Europe. But in the last little while even, in a lot of different levels of basketball, Europeans have done very well. They've excelled considerably. Yeah. I mean, Germany has done some great things in the last handful of years as well, like given on the Eurobasket stage. So, yeah, it was great to go there and kind of experience a new culture and experience a new style of play. Right. And sort of get my feet wet when it came to professional play. So, Germany, Portugal and Japan. Yes. Out of those three, which was your favorite? You mean like overall? Yeah. Yeah. I really liked Japan. The people and the culture there is great. The food is great. It was just a challenging obstacle, obviously, with the injury. But, yeah, the style of play and just the culture and the setting was fantastic. So, can I just say for fear of maybe getting a little bit of cultural trouble here, Japanese aren't exactly real tall people and you're very tall. Yeah. So, you... Did you not think that? The first thing when he said Japan, I mean, did you stick out? You must have stuck out in the crowd. Yeah. Like, yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, they're super nice, super helpful. Yeah. You know, and I was in a little bit of a smaller town, so, you know, I go to the grocery store and I got people trying to help me out. And unfortunately, we're playing games of charades, trying to figure out what I'm looking for. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, no, I mean, it was, it was fantastic. There's, when it comes to professional basketball in Japan, you know, the types of import players that they sign, sort of American players are usually, you know, six, seven, six, eight and above. Right. They've got things covered from the guard position. Yeah, that's right. They're looking for forwards and centers, right? Yeah, that's kind of cool. That's good. Yeah, I mean, that's great. I hear Japan is amazing. I've been there, just stopped there once, but it's pretty cool. And you broke your jaw in Japan. Yeah. Somebody hit you? Yeah, took an elbow, yeah. Took an elbow, on the court? Yeah. Yeah, good. Want to make. Just clear that up. I wasn't like, somebody slaps me. I wasn't at a karaoke bar. Yeah, yeah, that's right. A little too much sushi wine that night. Okay, cool. Well, you came home. Did you think that's the end, or you wanted that to be the end of your playing days, or what did you think? What was your thoughts? Yeah, it was a combination of just getting a life started. When you play professional basketball overseas, you're gone for seven, eight months of the year, and then you're back. And those three, four months back in Edmonton or wherever you end up is often challenging to find a job that's meaningful, or get anything moving in terms of a resume. And so for me, I knew that I wanted to coach. I knew that that was going to be something that was going to be important to me. So instead of adding additional years of playing on the resume, I wanted to add some coaching experience. Yeah, that's awesome. That was sort of the decision that I made to hang them up. And got lucky, I was able to scratch the itch when the CEBL came to Edmonton. Yeah, yeah. How long has the CEBL been here in Edmonton? So 2019 was year one. That's right. And we are one of the original franchises in the league. OK. There's been some movement, there's been some expansion. Yeah. So there's really, it's us, Niagara and Saskatchewan that have been with the league since the very beginning. Really? And Vancouver started in Fraser Valley, they moved. There's a team in Hamilton that's since moved to Brampton. So there's been some changes in the league, but we're one of the original teams. Saskatchewan. Did you know that? Your home province? Well, I've been gone for a while, so I didn't know. You were just into curling, yeah. No way. No, I know. See, she gets it. Anyway, that's good. Okay, so yeah, it's growing pretty fast. Like, it's growing rapidly. The league is growing pretty fast. I think that's kind of cool. Yeah, I mean, the talent level that we've had is just getting better and better every year. This year, I think we had somewhere between eight and 10 players from the league signed NBA contracts to be with teams in the preseason. So we're getting some high quality guys coming to the league, and that obviously attracts fans and sponsorship and all the things that drive professional sport. So what is, Jordan, what is the average age like of somebody coming to play in this league? Is it right out of university kind of thing, or? You know, you see a good mix. Our league has a good relationship with U Sports, so there are some developmental players that are able to join the team, but typically, you know, you see sort of that mid 20s finish their college career, maybe have a couple of years overseas or a couple of years in the G League, and then they come to us in the summer. So, you know, 26, 27 is probably the most average age for us. Right. How long do they play for? What's the average till they're? Yeah, I mean, usually, you know, if you're really dragging it on, like early, mid 30s is probably, but the thing with our league is we are a summer league. So we take players who play from September to May and give them somewhere to go and train and get paid from May to August. So if you're going to play basketball 12 months of the year at a professional level, it takes a toll on your body. So typically we see players in our league three to four years with some of our more exceptional Canadians lasting a little bit longer than that. But yeah, it takes a toll when you play 12 months of the year. So going back to your university coaching days, what was your long term plan? Did you have a long term plan? Were you hoping to obviously move up maybe head coach or whatever in university level? What were you thinking when you were doing that? What was your plan there? Yeah, I mean, the plan was to be the head coach of the University of Alberta. Right. That was sort of the career trajectory and trying to find ways that got me the experience and the resume to be able to walk into that position when it came open. And the Edmonton Stingers sort of threw a wrench in that. Those plans, being able to coach professionally in my hometown is pretty special and to take on some additional responsibilities as the general manager and the president. Sure. Yeah, it's a great opportunity. How'd they scout you? How did they? Well, I was the power forward on the floor. So, they didn't have to look very far. Didn't have to look far, yeah. Did you let them know you wanted to coach or was that just, did they, was that, they just came and said, hey, you'd be a great coach. Well, the, you know, when you talk about playing basketball 12 years, 12 months of the year, I wasn't doing that. I was playing basketball four months of the year. Right. And the other eight months, I was coaching at Collegiate. Oh, okay, yeah. So they already knew that I was involved in the coaching side of things. Yeah. When they did approach me, I was planning on coming back and playing for another season. And they said, well, can you maybe expedite the retirement process and come and be our bench boss? So that was something where I had to think long and hard about what I wanted to do because I did really enjoy playing the game and still was getting the coaching experience, but it's hard to pass up the professional coaching experience. So tell us a little bit about that. What's it like going from player to coach? Like, what skills do you think has helped you as a coach from being a player? Well, yeah, I mean, I certainly understand what it's like to be in the locker room. I understand the daily grind and the in and outs. And as a coach, I try now to be a little bit more understanding of what players are going through and understanding that even though we need to work on some things and we need to get better, we need to get practicing. Yeah, sometimes the day off is worth his weight in gold. Right, are you a yelling coach? Not really, no. I mean, even my first year when I was coaching with the Stingers, you know, I had four or five guys that I played with the year prior, right? So I think the way that I carried myself and, you know, I was the team captain when I was there as a player, I think that respect and understanding was established before the role ever changed. No throwing chairs on the court type thing. How many technical fouls as a coach have you had? Less than five. Less than five. That's pretty good. That's good to say. That's actually really good. No, I mean, it's much different than coaching at the collegiate level where you've got 18, 19 year olds who need a little bit of yelling and screaming. Right, right, yeah. No, these are grown men that you're coaching. Yeah, and they really want to play. Yeah, and they've been there and they understand that there's, you know, financial compensation tied to their performance. Right. They're taking it seriously. They take care of their bodies. They take care of, you know, the mental aspect of the game. So when it comes to yelling and screaming and then doing those type of things, it doesn't get you anywhere. It's effective at times, but it can't be a daily or weekly occurrence because it loses its effect on these guys. How the league start? Yeah, tell us about that. It's an interesting story. So there was a league out in Ontario. It was called the NBL. It's gone by a couple of different names since then. And one of the teams from that league, their owner decided that they wanted out, they wanted something new. So they left the NBL and founded the CEBL. And there was only six teams to start with, but it was a little bit more of a different, it was structured differently. The Canadian content was different. And it was sort of, you know, from scratch, they were able to, Mike Morreale, who was the commissioner at the time, you know, really put together a great vision of what he wanted the league to look like and playing in the off season to give some of these guys an opportunity to... Do you have to be a Canadian to play? No. So you have imports? We do have imports, yeah. This past season, it was four imports was the max you could have. So on a roster of 12, you got eight Canadians and four imports. Oh, I like that. Yeah, that's good for you guys. So and keeping it... There has to be two Canadians on the floor at all times. Really? So that's one of the things that I like about the league, being a Canadian guy. Of course. We want to use it as a stepping stone as a launching pad for some of our development Canadian players. So six teams started out. Yeah. And obviously, the desire was to grow the league. First year, how was the reception of the league? Was it like people buying into it? It was like, yeah, it was... Yeah, the first year was, I mean, in Edmonton, it's been challenging because there's been, you know, since the early or mid 2000s, there's been a handful of teams and professional leagues that have come to town. Yeah. And have had a team for one, maybe two seasons and then folded. Right. So, you know, myself included, there was a lot of skepticism when it came to whether or not the CEBL would be sustainable. And so, people came to the games, but sort of with an understanding of this might not last. This is temporary, maybe. So, there wasn't a full, you know, there wasn't embraced fully. Yeah. And then 2020, obviously COVID. Yes. So, we played in the bubble. So, we played without fans. All the teams went to St. Catharines. So, you didn't shut it down. You guys played. We didn't shut it down. Yeah. So, credit to Mike and the league office. They found a way to keep us afloat. And we all went to St. Catharines and played in a little bit of a shortened season. Yeah. Turned it tournament style. So, we all played there. No fans. That's pretty cool. And then we were back to somewhat regular scheduled, but with some limitations in 2021. And then since then, we've been working to grow and build our season ticket holder base. Good on you guys for keeping that going. Like seriously, because it probably would have been pretty easy to just shut it down. Us and NBA are really the only two professional leagues that continue to play. Yeah. Wow. I think it's cool. So playing in a city like Edmonton. And again, we have listeners everywhere. So just to set the stage, we have a fairly decent hockey team here, the Edmonton Oilers. Gone to the Stanley Cup the last two years in a row. Didn't win, but nonetheless made it to the Cup. We have the CFL, Canadian Football League, which? Well, the Edmonton Elks. Sorry, yeah, the Edmonton Elks, which we have that. So Edmonton used to be called the city of champions. That's probably been tampered down just a tad. But what's it like coming into a city with that kind of professional level of sports and trying to start something professional and get it going and make it happen? Has that been tough slugging? Has that been, yeah? I mean, Edmonton does have a certain affinity towards professional sports. I mean, having played collegiate sports here, it's a much different crowd at the games at U of A versus at the Expo Center. It's very different. There's people who want the night out, want the family experience. And it's not so much about the basketball. It's about the professional atmosphere. And it's about the professional production, all the things that go along with it. So, yeah, I feel like we've been embraced. Sometimes we've had some overlap with the Oilers, unfortunately, when they start making their deep playoff runs and they're playing into May and June. Haven't we all. Yeah, there's some overlap there. So, I mean, obviously, we're never going to steal away viewership and fans from a team that's been so successful and such a large part of our identity as a city. So for us, we just try to fill in the gaps. You know, talk about the Riverhawks having a similar sort of role in the summertime. And to provide family-friendly fun and entertainment for the city. And, you know, our season is short, but we really do a good job of packing the seats. What's the ticket cost? Well, I mean, it depends on where you want to sit. Sure. How close to the action you want to sit. Like you can get into our building for $15. Wow. Really? Or you can sit right next to me for, you know, $600. So it depends on what you want to do. How many does the Expo Center hold? Like what's the maximum kind of capacity? So based on the sections that we have open on a typical game day, it's about 3,500. Okay. If we open up some of the upper corners, we can get out about five or sorry, four. Okay. So 4,000 fans. We've had a few sellouts. Canada Day, we always have a game at home and it's always done really well. Typically, we do sort of a 4 p.m. tip and then the Riverhawks play in the evening. If you really want to have a day of sports, then you can go and do that and they do the fireworks in the evenings. We're talking about this earlier and I really love what you guys do. You're talking about, yeah, you want families to come to the games, you want people to come to the games, so you reduce the price on the concessions. Five dollar hot dogs, pizza, fries, beers, whatever, yeah. So you can bring your... Beers doesn't really get the kids in, but... But it brings the parents. But it gets the dads in. That's right, and the dads, yeah, that's right, it brings the dads in. And so I love that because again, we were talking earlier, excuse me, it's these days professional sports is expensive. It's hard to bring your family out. It is. Yes. Hockey games. For sure. Pretty tough, football even is pretty tough. So to hear that you guys are high quality, high caliber sports, high caliber basketball, and you're making it available to families, I think that's fantastic. Are you seeing a win in that, like getting kids in the door and that kind of stuff? Yeah, and I mean, the pricing is not the only thing that we've done to try to incentivize it. Something that's really unique with our team is we have autograph sessions after every game. So, we have three or four players every single night after our game. You know, they come into the locker room, they either get a high five or a little bit of a, you know, a little bit of a lecture from me, depending on the results of the game. And then they come back out and kids and families are able to come right on the floor. That's amazing. Yeah, I love that. Take their photos with our players. You know, the guy that you just watched scored 25 points is now signing the back of your jersey. I think that's fantastic. I do too. And that's huge for kids. Of course, it is. They love that. And they'll keep that jersey forever. Let's talk basketball a little bit. What is the state of basketball? Like is it, we talked earlier about it before we started recording, but like is basketball, are kids catching on to this? Is it growing? I know when I went to high school at Ross Shep, basketball was big. Like it was huge. I think even in my opinion, it was bigger than football at the time. Yeah, I mean, we have the advantage certainly of being a school sport. Yeah. Hockey doesn't compete at that level. They're more organized. Yeah. So I think basketball has certainly grown in the last 10 years. When you look at the number of Canadians in the NBA, you look at the number of Canadians playing NCAA Division I at the highest level. You know, there's lots of guys that are, and women especially, our Canadian women's national team is tremendous. Yes. Even a couple of Edmontonians on the 3X3 national team, like it's growing. Yeah. And I think part of that is the level of accessibility. You know, you don't need a whole bunch of pads, and skates. Exactly. Equipment, right? Yeah. You got a pair of shoes. It's affordable. You got a basketball and you figure it out. So I think for first and second generation Canadians, that's certainly something that's getting them, you know, incentivized to be a part of things. And it's been tremendous to see how many, you know, when we run our youth camps, how many young players are excited to come out and wear the Edmonton Stingers. So I want to actually, I want to talk about that because the Stingers, you're all really involved in giving back to the community. And I think that's fantastic. And I think that is a way to continue to grow the sport, but also good on you. So tell us a little bit about the camps that you run and the involvement in the community. Sure. Yeah. I mean, it's something that we did up until last year, a little bit more informally, but this past off season. So starting in September of 2024, we launched what we call the Basketball Bridge Program. So the name, we're trying to connect as many players to coaches, to communities, to officials that we can across the basketball community. So we've been fortunate enough Sterling Homes has come on as our presenting sponsor for that. So shout out to Sterling Homes. Sterling Homes has done a great job in supporting that initiative and sort of getting us going with camps and clinics. We just finished our coaches clinic this past weekend at expo center. And then we've got a couple of youth camps going on in November. We've got a youth tournament, Christmas tournament in December. And then we're going to have youth camps. We have a 3X3 tournament that we run. We have a high school all-star game that we run out of our building. So we try to touch on as many aspects of basketball and the basketball community as we can, all the way from, you know, under 9 to high school. I love that, under 9. Tell us about under 9. Under 9 years old, we're talking about here, folks. This is pretty cool what they do. I think this is really cool. So last year was the first year of our, we call it the Holiday Hoops Tournament. It's the last weekend before Christmas. And we try to get as many under 9 teams out as we can. We had a handful of under 7 teams last year. It's, you, especially for me, I deal so much with the professional side of things. And basketball is a business. You know, you get back to why we did this thing in the first place. You know, you've got 6 and 7 and 8 year olds running around, and they play on shortened courts. And half the time when a basket goes in, all 10 players on the floor high five each other because it's such a big thing. So it's hilarious to watch. You know, it's fantastic. Just the level of excitement. You know, they're running around like chickens with their heads cut off. The parents are so appreciative and their kids are loving the experience. So anytime we can provide that opportunity to families and to young kids, you know, we're going to jump with the opportunity. And especially that time of year, too, when everyone is in the mood and spirit to be a little bit more thankful and appreciative of everything. I think it's fantastic. And the first name that comes to mind when you talk about this is for us here in Edmonton, Alphonso Davies, who started as a little kid playing soccer. And now, and so you never know that under seven, that under eight, that under nine. Where they're going to go. You don't know. Yeah, just to give players the opportunity to get out and put a ball in their hands. Yeah. Yeah. And like you say, it doesn't cost a lot of money. It's cheap to get into. But yet, yeah, you never know where it's going to go. I think that's really cool. I really like that. No, it is for sure. So starting a basketball team. Now, this is no easy feat, I'm sure. How long did it take you from inception to actually get it going? How long? The idea to going here in Edmonton. How long did that take? It's hard to say. You know, that's a question kind of beyond my pay grade. I was just a player. I was asked to play from the beginning, right? So I joined the team as a guy who had been retired for a couple of seasons and wanted to get back into it. But I know, like you said, it's not a small endeavor. No, I think the biggest challenge we see to this day is still facilities. Right. You know, like we're trying to find arenas that can accommodate basketball fans, that can accommodate basketball courts. That makes sense. And I think one of the important and smart things that was done by the CEBL in its inception was we want to play in professional arenas. We don't want to be at the Grant MacEwan Gymnasium, the University Gymnasium or at the Saville Centre, where there's some overlap between the collegiate experience and the professional experience. We want to be separated. And sometimes that means spending a little bit more. Sometimes that means having some empty seats because the venues are a little bit larger. That gives us an opportunity to grow and sort of transition into a league that's a little bit more established. It's cool. I think it's really cool. Yeah, I think it's really exciting, actually. And I think for Canada and for Edmonton especially, I think it's just fantastic. Basketball, in my opinion, is catching on. It's becoming bigger. We all get heightened during the Olympics. We have good Canadian Olympic teams. I'm going to name drop here a little bit. I guess Karen Plouffe. Katherine Plouffe, sorry. We'll be talking to her today. She's coming on the podcast. Also an Ainlay grad. Yeah, okay, rub it in, rub it in. But yeah, had a good talk with her at an event not long ago. And she's so excited about women's basketball in Canada, like so excited about it. And I think it's really cool. I think, yeah, hockey is always going to be our national sport. But I think basketball is a great sport and it has an opportunity. So I think it's really cool. Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah. So sponsorship is what makes you happen. Ticket sales is what makes you happen. Yeah. I'm saying that because if there's anybody listening, who thinks maybe, hey, you know what? The singers.ca. The singers.ca, there it is. But I'm serious about that because we have a number of business people that listen. And I think, yeah, this would be something to get on board with and go after and make happen. I think it's just great. And that's how you guys survive. Yeah. And for us, you know, our season ticket base has grown year after year after year. And we always try to find ways to, you know, make that a little bit more of a beneficial experience than just buying a single game ticket. Yeah. Expo Center parking is 16.50. Yeah. Unless you're a season ticket holder, then it costs you nothing. Whoa. Okay. Good deal. That's a deal! So you lock in for a season. That's a deal, Edmonton Oilers. If you can't make all 12 games. If you can't make all 12 games. You can give your tickets to your friends or family. And so how many games in a season? So there's 24 games. So 12 home games. Okay. That's a pretty good deal. No, that is a pretty good deal. It's a compressed schedule, but it's a good time. No, that's a great deal. Yeah. Awesome. Wow. I like the parking thing. I just, Tim. No, sorry. I might have to edit that out. No, I'm not editing it. Leaving that in there. Okay. But I do have a question because I always need to know. So, you travel kind of across Canada. Are you traveling by bus? We will bus to Calgary and we'll bus to Saskatoon and we'll fly everywhere else. Oh, yeah. Good. Yeah. Okay. Because, yeah, that'd be a long trip. No, that's a long. You're going to Montreal. You're not the junior league. You're not college. No, no, no. Six-day road trip. Yeah, we fly a lot of places. Yeah. Well, that's cool. I'm excited about this. I've never been to a game, but I'm going to go. Oh, me too. I've always wanted to. And I think it's really exciting. And I'm glad you came on because we want to make people aware of it, whether listening here in Edmonton or somewhere in Canada. I think this is obviously there's a desire to grow the league, I would think, get more teams involved and stuff like that and more exposure and those kinds of things. So I think that's really cool. You're doing a great job. So yeah, so. Final question. Final question. This is it. We ask all of our guests. Yes. Jordan, what is the best piece of advice you've been given to this day, either in your personal life or your professional life that you kind of continue to carry with you? Oh, I'll give you a couple. When I was young, you know, coming from a family of two basketball coaches, I was put in a position where I had a little bit of a head start on a lot of people playing the game, which makes sense. Also my dad's 6'5, my mom's 6'1, so it makes sense. I only wish. But it was, you know, when anytime there was an instance where I was maybe feeling myself a little bit and thought I was too big for the britches, you know, my dad always said, there's always somebody working. Yeah, you know, when you're, you know, it's probably an attempt to get me away from the Xbox or sitting in front of the TV. But while you're doing that, someone's in the gym putting up shots, someone else is, you know, lifting weights, someone else is running. And so, you know, any opportunity that you can to try to get a leg up on somebody, there's always somebody else working, there's always somebody better, always somebody to chase. And, you know, especially when you have professional aspirations that does hit hard when it's like, okay, well, I gotta find a way to play catch up and stay ahead of the game. So, there's that one and then just from a professional side of things, you know, we as an organization with the Edmonton Stingers and as a player, you know, you get lots of feedback, whether it's, whether you want it or not. Exactly, right? Yeah, yeah. And one of the biggest things was, you know, don't take criticism you wouldn't take or from somebody you wouldn't take advice from. Right. And it's like, sometimes you got to be a little bit thick skinned and you got to say, hey, you know, what is our goal as an organization? What is our goal as a team? Yeah. And if you stay true to that, then, you know, there's going to be people that agree with it and people that don't. Sure. You got to do what's best when you're building a team. You got to do what's best when you're trying to lead a team in an organization. So we try to, we try to keep a pretty close, close-knit family with our organization and value the people that we've got in the building and try to be as successful as we can on a scale that continually keeps moving and changing. So it's good. It is. It's really good. Again, one more time. Where can people find out about the Edmonton Stingers? Yeah, the Edmonton Stingers, or sorry, the theStingers.ca is our website on social media. Just search Edmonton Stingers. You got a couple of different handles on X versus on Instagram. Perfect. Do you do a play by play? Yeah. All of our games are broadcast on CEBL Plus. So if you want to go on CEBL, there's a CEBL app. You can watch every single game for free. There's free to sign up. You watch every single game. There's games on demand. You can watch player profiles, get stats, everything on that app. Man, that's great. I think it links to our tickets even. So yeah, any season starts in May. So we're still a little ways away, but got opportunities to build out our sponsorship, get our ticket sales numbers, where we want them to be. I was going to say, some great Christmas gifts there. Absolutely. Stingers tickets, seasons tickets. Schedule comes out in December. Okay. So you'll be able to take a look at that in December and take a look at single games and flex packs and all the fun stuff that comes along with that side of things. Okay, so I got to ask this question because it's nagging me. At what age did you start beating your dad on one-on-one? Or does he still beat you? I don't know if we ever played where I beat him. Oh, yeah, yeah, he just, I think he saw the writing on the wall and retired. I'm never going to play you again. I love that. That's good. Yeah. I think probably when I was like eight or nine, he was like, I'm done. I'm done. Yeah. Oh, that's great. Well, what a great, Jordan, thanks for doing this because this is really cool. And like I say, folks, you need to take advantage of this if you're in the Edmonton area. I think it's great. Great family night, great sport, great team. You did well last year. Yeah. You did really well last year. 15-9. Yeah. Unfortunately, lost to Calgary in the playoffs. Yeah. Yeah. Third best record in the leagues. Fantastic. And if you're not in Edmonton, if you're in one of the other communities that has a league, check them out. Check them out. That's right. And if you're in a city that doesn't have a league at all, check them out on, listen to the play-by-play, watch the games. I think you'll really enjoy it. That's really great. Thanks, Jordan. Hey, everybody. Thanks for listening again. Now I want to remind you about Wing Snob. Great, great, great wings. Maybe after the Stingers game, you go get some wings, or before the Stingers games, you grab some wings. And they're doing amazing, Wingsnob.ca and Mprint, our friends at Mprint. At Mprint.ca. Yeah, they do amazing. So, hey, make sure you tell somebody about the podcast. Tell your friend, tell your neighbor, tell your enemy. Tell, if you don't have any friends, go make one just so you can tell them about the podcast, because this has been a great story today. And yeah, thanks for listening. You can hear us wherever you get your podcast or at... www.coffeeinthepark.com That's right. Thanks everybody. And we'll catch you next time.