‘It’s about morale’: 15 Wing base hosts CAF basketball tournament

WATCH: The annual Canadian Armed Forces West basketball men’s tournament is taking place in Moose Jaw this week.

15 Wing Moose Jaw Canadian Forces Base annually hosts a basketball tournament for the Canadian Armed Forces western teams to partake in, and this year, the host team made it to the final.

Captain Dennis Gowen is a former player and is now the coach of the 15 Wing Moose Jaw team.

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“It’s about morale, sports, it always brings together people. It’s always about morale. And you get to see players from other bases to be able to build the bonds with them, even though you don’t really get to see them. So, it’s nice that you get to see people and see the friends. And, you know, it’s just about building camaraderie and morale,” Gowen said.

Teams from across western Canada have travelled to Moose Jaw, with Thursday’s championship game being a match up between the home team and Esquimalt.

“It’s been a while since Moose Jaw has won anything, even being in the finals. So being in the finals is already a goal in itself. So, Esquimalt is definitely tough and I’m looking forward to the game.” Gowen said.

As for the Esquimalt team, they were more than excited to take on Moose Jaw for the trophy, according to Lieutenant Owen Murphy.

“It really takes it out of you. Win or lose. But everyone has fought hard. Nobody’s giving up and I’m super happy with how the team has performed .... We came here last year as well, and both times have been really fun experiences. The sort of thing that not everybody gets to do. And being in the military and getting this opportunity is really fun for us,” Murphy said.

Murphy echoed Gowen’s sentiment regarding the importance of sports for the overall morale of each base.

“It builds teamwork more than anything else. We have to be able to communicate. We have to be able to work together. And it also addresses just about any leadership quality that you can have. Some of them are built through sports. Most of us have played sports all our lives. And that’s how we got these, got these qualities really,” Murphy said

Tip off was at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and a closing ceremony followed.

“We’re just here to play basketball. We don’t want to get injured. We just want to have fun and just play basketball. That’s what it’s about,” Gowen said before the match.

The final score from Thursday’s game was 75-59 for Esquimalt.