Battle At The Border Brings High-Energy Basketball To Windsor Waterfront
Katharen Bortolin (left), Executive Director of Hospice Windsor-Essex and Angela Maggio (right), Director on the Board of Directors for W.E. Care for Kids do a ceremonial tip off with Ward 3 City of Windsor Councillor.
Battle at the Plaza, an inaugural, three-day basketball tournament at the Windsor Riverfront Plaza will take place from August 30th to September 1st.
A family-friendly, heart-racing event will draw hundreds of players, fans and community to the Windsor Festival Plaza for the long weekend to share their love of basketball.
“We’re thrilled to bring this exciting event to Windsor; it’s never been done. Battle 519 will transform Windsor’s Festival Plaza into an outdoor basketball wonderland or as we like to call it, Battle at the Plaza. Twenty-six teams comprising of four different divisions will compete over the three-day weekend in hopes of being the inaugural Battle 519 champion in their division. The event promises to be an unforgettable experience for all involved. Attendees will have the opportunity to indulge in local food truck delectables and explore unique offerings from pop-up restaurants and retail vendors while enjoying live music and entertainment. The monies raised will be donated to two well deserving charities here in Windsor,” said Manny Pangilinan, President of Battle 519.
Pangilinan explained that the concept of Battle 519 really started from a conversation with Clyde Pacis, President of Battle Canada, about basketball uniforms as they were looking for a new supplier. One conversation led to another, and it eventually led to a full-out discussion of Battle 416 in North York, the first city battle in 2018. They were immediately intrigued. Not only would it bring an outdoor basketball tournament to the city but when he said that there would be an opportunity to give back to the community as it did with Battle 416 and their charity Toronto’s Sick Kids Hospital, well it was pretty much a done deal, we knew we had to bring this event back to our community and so here we are.
The University of Windsor and the Alumni Association were announced as the event’s title sponsor and proceeds from the three-day event will be donated to Hospice Windsor-Essex and W.E. Care For Kids bringing the community together in an exciting and unique way.
Battle 519 is looking for additional sponsors, vendors and donations to make this event a success. If you are interested getting involved, you can email [email protected] or [email protected].
