Whiterock Basketball Academy is competing at the Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI) in Phoenix, Arizona. (submitted photo/Denzyl Gopher)

By Austin Mattes

Whiterock Basketball Academy

Local basketball players take talent to the big stage at NABI tournament in Arizona

Jul 23, 2025 | 5:15 PM

A group of young athletes from Saskatchewan are proudly representing their communities, province, and country this week as Whiterock Basketball Academy is competing at the Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI) in Phoenix, Arizona. It’s the largest all-Native American high school basketball tournament in the U.S.

The tournament, which features 250 boys’ teams from across North America, invited five Canadian teams this year. Among them is Whiterock Academy, a team composed of players from several Saskatchewan First Nations including Red Pheasant, Sweetgrass, and Mosquito.

(Submitted Photo/Denzyl Gopher)

Founded by Denzyl Gopher of Saulteaux First Nation, Whiterock simply began as an open gym for youth looking to play basketball. That community initiative has since grown into a competitive team playing in tournaments across North America.

“It started out as pretty much a free gym space for people that wanted to play basketball,” Gopher said. “Then I was asked to coach at the North American Indigenous Games, and that’s where I met most of these kids. We eventually just stuck together, kept playing different tournaments, and when we got a call and invited to the tournament from the president of NABI back in February, I asked the team if they were interested and they said, yeah.”

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However, getting to the tournament definitely wasn’t easy. The team had to raise funds for the $1,500 tournament fee as well as travel expenses and accommodations through 50/50 draws, closest-to-the-pin golf challenges, and strong community support.

“Half of the team hasn’t even left the province before,” Gopher said. “So this is the farthest they’ve ever been. It’s quite an honour to represent the province and all our nations, especially with all the help from leadership and community to make this happen.”

Whiterock dropped their first two games on Wednesday in close contests. Their final pool play game is set for Thursday, July 24 at 9 a.m.

Despite the narrow losses, Gopher said the team remains optimistic.

“We feel pretty confident. At the team meetings yesterday, out of all the teams that were there, we were one of the biggest team’s height-wise. There’s a lot of strong competition, so we’re just taking it game by game.”

The tournament semifinals and championship will be played at PHX Arena, home of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many of the youth.

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Austin.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @AustinMattes