Perusing the Raptors 905 schedule, there’s quite an oddity on Dec. 11 – not only does the D-League squad get bumped to the Air Canada Centre, but they play at 11 a.m. on a Friday.
It turns out there’s a good reason why. The Dec. 11 home game against Maine is being promoted as a game aimed at students, with the franchise expecting “as many as 10,000 students and teachers from the Greater Toronto Area” on hand. That’s a lot of kids.
It’s also a great idea. The Toronto Blue jays take advantage of occasional weekday afternoon games during the school year, usually on getaway days, and downtown is littered with school buses. Considering the Raptors and Raptors 905 have a strong interest in helping build the game across the region (and country), this is a smart way to get kids to experience the game up close and in person, without the expense of a Raptors game or the chaos of an after-hour field trip.
“Introducing kids to our game at an early age promotes the health benefits of physical activity, value of teamwork and importance of sportsmanship,” Raptors 905 General Manager Dan Tolzman said in a release. “Our school-day game at Air Canada Centre is an exciting way to bring professional basketball to a wide scope of youth in our region.”
Plus, Bru-Tang is for the children.
As always, for ticket information, check out Raptors905.com.
