Starting in the City

[00:00:10] Speaker A: This is beyond basketball, where we go behind the scenes of Calgary's newest pro sports team, the Calgary surge. I'm Lucy Beauregard, and in this episode, starting in the city, Anaia Zarka and I are going back in time to find out everything there is to know about how the Calgary surge came to be the first professional basketball team in the city over 30 years. On May 27, 2023, the Calgary surge won in their debut game. [00:00:41] Speaker B: Smith for the win. And that's gonna do it. History made as Calgary surges to life in the CEBL and claims victory in game number one. [00:00:54] Speaker A: But before their triumph on the court, the surge had less than a year to get ready for this defining moment. Their first season showcased their dedication and talent, launching them from rookies to crowd favorites. Even though they fell short of the championship, the surge's journey captivated Calgarians and solidified their place in the city's sports scene. Lace up your sneakers as we relive the eight month journey that took the surge from newcomers to hometown heroes. In this episode, youll hear from three people who have been with the team before it was even the surge. [00:01:31] Speaker B: And thats Usman Taherjat, chairman of the. [00:01:34] Speaker C: Surge Dylan Howe, a vice president of. [00:01:36] Speaker D: The surge Jason Ribeiro, vice chairman and president of the surge this is the. [00:01:41] Speaker A: Untold story, the behind the scenes saga that highlights those working hard off the court to get the team in playing shape before the 2023 season began. The Calgary surge's remarkable debut season revitalized the city with pride and a new sense of community. Usman, Jason and Dylan's stories have given us a peek beyond what we see on the court, but we still have lots more to discover about the Calgary surge. [00:02:11] Speaker E: How does it feel being part of the group that's bringing the experience back to the city? [00:02:17] Speaker D: It's humbling, right? You know, there's a rich history of basketball in the city. There's a rich history of sport in the city. And to find ourselves on the shoulders of all of these people that have come before us, that have gathered thousands of people, thousands of kids and families in a positive manner around the concept of sport, around the concept of health and wellness is extremely humbling. And we've learned a lot. We feel those 30 years of missing professional basketball, I think, at least at scale, and to have brought this to the city in a way that I think we're immensely proud of, but also really energized by how much more we can do as we scale. The Calgary surge has just been a really beautiful thing from start to finish of season one. [00:03:06] Speaker B: Basketball hasn't been here professionally for 30 years, but basketball has gotten way bigger in those 30 years. And we're seeing that in our first, at the conclusion of our first year to be able to capitalize on the community that surrounds basketball, the culture that surrounds basketball. And it's been an absolute privilege for us to be able to carry that professional torch into the next, hopefully 30 more years and more. But, yeah, it's been very exciting for us. [00:03:36] Speaker F: Dylan, can you take us through your journey with the CEBL, starting from Guelph and coming to Calgary? [00:03:43] Speaker C: Yeah, no, for sure. It's definitely been a whirlwind couple of years considering what we've gone through. But yeah, my origin story starts back in 2018 when I was working for the River Lions when they were part of the National Basketball League of Canada. And so from that trajectory to where we are now is, I kind of forget to look back at it because a lot has happened. So between the launching of Guelph, having a stellar inaugural season, going into a pandemic bubble, into assurance, season to then growth all the way along into our most recent season to 2022, then now relocating out to Calgary, it's been a fun, rewarding journey, but it's fantastic to see again touching on the points of the connection between the YMCA and then, I know you mentioned most locally here with Calgary basketball obviously having 30 years since, since the 88s. It's the same story across the league, across the country. Basketball's growing, but at the same time, there was always that void, which is part of the reason why I joined the league, essentially, too. [00:04:50] Speaker D: Right? [00:04:50] Speaker C: Because again, as a former athlete myself and someone whose sports have been a key part of my life, there was always a missing void with basketball. When you look at the trajectory, even looking back the Steve Nash days, a lot of people forget about people like Rick Fox, Jamal McGloire. Obviously, Steve Nash is the most notable one. But basketball has always been in the blood of Canadians. And so to have a league for us, you know, for Canadians by Canadians, is something that, again, going into our first season in Calgary, has been the same across the league. Right, for the last five previous years. So, yeah, I don't know. I think there's a lot more for us to do out here. But the, the pathway to get to where we are now is, truthfully, just the beginning. [00:05:34] Speaker E: Well, going back to the beginning, like you said, Jason, how did your story with the surge begin? [00:05:40] Speaker D: Yeah, I think the story with the surge started. I think, like for many people with basketball as a kid, right. I don't think that the surge comes together in the way that it has and with the people that we brought together if they didn't have that moment as a kid where basketball and sport and mentorship entered their life. And for me, you know, I remember growing up in Ontario when the Raptors first launched. Like, I remember their first season. I remember going to some of their first games, and I also remember it being a little bit of a conversation to say, I want to play basketball as a kid because everyone was playing hockey and I played every sport. But basketball was unique, and it was unique for a few reasons. To me, it was unique not only because of who was playing and the fact that we finally had a canadian team, but it was unique because it spoke to so many different things beyond just the sport. It spoke to music. You started to see basketball players not only support the emergent growth of hip hop, even try their hands at rapping themselves. Shaq was a rapper back in the day. And then you started to see fashion starting to come together. I remember Allen Iverson being fined for wearing baggy pants and just that being this rock star moment for me as a kid and starting to see what sneakers kids were wearing at school because of the growth of the sport culturally, and then finally to be a young adult and have this kind of we, the north moment where this thing that I'd grown up with started to expand across the country, was really a wonderful thing. But it was beyond the realm of possibility that outside of being a fan, I had any direct role in that. The story goes, I screenshotted that press release. I texted Usman, and I essentially said, are we doing this? [00:07:32] Speaker F: Okay, so we'll move on to you. Usman, how did the story start with you? [00:07:37] Speaker B: Yeah, same as Jay's. Like, it started very much at a young age, growing up in Edmonton, sport, playing outside, getting involved with people. It's centered around this ability to find recreation, find something to keep yourself busy in. And as you continue to go out and find community, whether it's organized sports or playing out at recession, this thing plays a unifying role. [00:08:13] Speaker E: Going back to the first text message that was sent between you guys, how long took place between, let's say, that text and the first game of the season. [00:08:22] Speaker D: So that text, I remember it because it was my birthday. August 17 was the day that that text was sent, and we were playing our first game at Winsport to a sold out crowd on May 27. But even still the other date, that's also more interesting, which is what we've just come up against is by the time we were standing in front of an audience at Winsport and the media launching this team nationally, it was October 19. So from the date that that text was sent to us, standing up, an entire team, putting together a small staff and launching a team to the country, it was just over two months. So again, when Usman says that we were making a lot of assumptions at the time about what Calgary wanted to see, you have to think about it. There's no time for focus grouping, no time for research, no time for any of that. It really was out of. It really was informed by community like decade plus of being out and working with these agencies and knowing what's been, what we think Calgary has needed. That was what informed that initial launch. And if, and if we weren't successful, if that didn't resonate, I think we would have known from that very next day because season ticket deposits went on sale. I think Dylan would have been on us about that. But there was something there that I think intrigued enough Calgarians to sort of have those numbers tick up, tick up, tick up and the trust that they put in this before we'd ever played our first game. So there was a stretch between August seventeenth's text, October nineteenth's launch to May 20 seventh's first game. [00:10:03] Speaker E: Okay, do you think we can kind of like break it down a little bit more simply for the two of us? Just cause. [00:10:09] Speaker B: Yeah, like it. [00:10:10] Speaker F: We get that it happened relatively fast, right. But if you could just slow it down and like, just go through the. [00:10:16] Speaker B: Major steps to slow it down, it was things that we didn't know we needed to do, like set up a press conference. Who would be at that press conference? What would we be wearing at that press conference? All of those things kind of made a major, monumental difference in how we were launching a professional sports product to a city. We committed very quickly because we knew that this was something that had to be done. But we were also aware that many sports organizations that go into this exact moment make commitments like this. Like we talked about visiting the four quadrants of the city. So if you look at our logo, it's got the four feathers and it reflects the four quadrants of the city. And we said, we can't put this on our logo without spending time in these four quadrants. And it launched a very organic way, our community kind of brand, which is home team. It's not about the Calgary surge when we're out in the community. It's about reflecting back what Calgary wants to see in a home team. And before tip off, before May 27, we were over 97 events that we had gone to, and there were events that could have had four or five people or it could have had five or 6000 people. But we knew that in this two month period, what we needed to do was launch a team, figure out the mechanics of what needed to look like from a presentation perspective. But more importantly, where did we need to be? And we needed to be in a community. You didn't find any of us in a boardroom drawing up things for those first six months. We were out there trying to find where the fans would be, what the community was thinking about, what they were talking about. And I'll go back and it's actually a reflection I've had recently, and I don't know which clip. Somebody has this clip somewhere. It's the tip off, our inaugural tip off at Winsport. Who's got this? You know, sometimes you get these moments that are ingrained in your life forever. And I think of, like, the play by play guy for the Oilers, Rod Phillips, back in the day when he would talk about, you know, calling the Oilers and Mike's play by play of Simi scoring the first basket. That's a moment that I actually had missed because we were at the game and I remember the last. I remember Steph's free throw at the end. I don't remember at all. I don't even think I was watching the game in the beginning. And to have that at the very start and to go back and watch that clip again, to me, it's become my new highlight of the year, is watching the clip after the event has occurred and how he describes how we've reached history by Simi scoring the first basket. So it's moments like that that I think are creating these marked moments of what did the first year look like? What were things that were, we hoped came across as flawless, but there was a lot of kind of trials and tribulations in getting there. [00:13:21] Speaker F: So you described it how like it was, for the most part, flawless, but there was trials and tribulations. So if you could just, like, elaborate a little bit more on what was the biggest challenges you faced, from my. [00:13:35] Speaker B: Perspective, and I'll let these guys go on, my perspective was I didn't know what a basketball game looked like. I didn't know how we would be giving, selling hundreds of tickets, calling people to a game and making sure that they were going to be satisfied by the end of it. I didn't know if that was going to be a possibility. I'd never seen a CEBl basketball game. I had no idea. And I know countless times I'd go to Dylan overwhelmed and saying, are you sure this is going to work? Like, do you know what you're doing here? And he was like, no, I know how to lay the court down. And I'm like, I don't think that's enough. Yeah. But I don't know if there was one sort of trial. It was putting together a team. It was putting together a basketball op structure. It was putting together front office staff. It was putting together an entire organization. And to me, the biggest kind of learning for us has been, and we're still learning. We had a conversation this morning about it. This is our first off season. It's very quiet. We kind of don't know what to do right now. And it's the first time we've experienced it. Dylan's done it a few times, and we're count, like, you know, we're continuously going to him and being like, this lull that we're feeling. Is this normal? So there's still moments of learning and so on and so forth. [00:14:53] Speaker C: Yeah. Just to build off that, I think the cleanest way to put it is you don't know what you don't know. And I think coming out here again, it's for me, again, the reason why these two gentlemen allowed me to come out here with them, to help launched the team, was the experience. Right? I was fortunately and unfortunately, the only one who had been through it within our office. So it's more. So, you know, these guys took the leap of faith. And when I swan's point, when he says, like, when I say, trust me, he's like, you have to trust me here. And then, obviously, the proof is in the pudding. But I'd say there wasn't anything in particular that stood out. It was just a collective of small pieces where you need to go through it and come out on the other side, because I think our seasons are so high octane and so short that you have to take that 10,000 foot view, step back, and again, two or three. I kind of forgot who scored the first basketball in the Calgary surge history. [00:15:39] Speaker D: Right. [00:15:40] Speaker C: Cause you're in it. Like, for example, we were dealing with other things on the game day that you're like, you kinda actually miss some of this stuff. But that's just one of our. [00:15:47] Speaker D: Outside, there was an outdoor plaza, and we were literally getting people inside the door because we were afraid we weren't gonna start on time. [00:15:56] Speaker E: Like, on your birthday, when you invite all your friends and you're so focused on making sure that they have such a great time that you forget supposed to be having fun. [00:16:05] Speaker D: Yeah. And I think the one sort of trial and tribulation I'll add is you're selling the future. Right. That's a very unique thing. And there's other businesses where that becomes part and parcel of what you do. But this was unique, right? Like, we knew, no matter what, we can't tell investors or customers, hey, at some date, this will pay off. On May 27, the game was going to need to be played. And so the conversation that ensued, and I think what we've learned is a little bit of the secret sauce to the surgeon. And our approach to community has been trust. It was a public trust when we launched on October 19, and people put in deposits, sight unseen, in the hundreds. It was trust that allowed us to build the partnerships. [00:16:58] Speaker E: We're on to the final question now. So a bit of a deep one. If you could go back in time to the beginning of your journey with the surge, what piece of advice would you give yourself? [00:17:12] Speaker B: Well, while these guys figure it out. [00:17:13] Speaker C: Pay attention to who scored the first basket. [00:17:16] Speaker D: Simmy's gonna be very offended. [00:17:21] Speaker B: I think looking back, there would be an element of, and I think this would apply to any sort of business, is trust and patience. Those two things you take for granted. There was countless times where, even though what was presented was a seemingly flawless execution, we doubted ourselves a lot more than maybe we should have. And I would have liked to have heard from me in the future to say, it's gonna be fine, because there was countless moments that we would argue for no reason on things that were seemingly trivial. When I look back in the moment, they were everything. And then patience. Like, I'm kind of projecting the question to say, what would year two be? Talking to year one? And it's the moment we're in right now. We play a summer season, yet we're involved in the community 365. It's difficult to motivate people today when we don't have our next game until May. And it was evident after our semi final win and our final win that people were like, oh, yeah, we want to come to the next surge game. And I'm like, yeah, it's next year. Right? And it takes a toll, personally, on people just to understand what that motivation needs to look like. So I think that would be my two things would be trust and patience. And allow yourself some space. [00:18:50] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, not to just steal your answer, but to build off of it, you know, just what is steal a line from Sam Hankey? You know, trust the process. I think we all knew what you stole my life. [00:19:00] Speaker D: I gotta think of something else. [00:19:03] Speaker C: You knew what, you know, the date was gonna happen no matter what. May 27 was gonna be there. And I think leading up to it, I think, is just understanding and looking back that, hey, you know, follow your gut. Like anything in life, go with your gut feeling. Whatever happens from it, good or bad, leaves you followed your gut. So I think, truthfully, we actually had a storybook season, so it's kind of hard to look back on it and improve, because who makes it to the finals in their inaugural season in a new city? But like anything in life, you look back and they're just minor tweaks. So there wasn't anything major. [00:19:33] Speaker D: I think the only. Certainly, I think those are two truths that resonate with me. I think looking back, I think the only thing I would add is there is no substitute for being engaged. And I think certainly we've, at various points in times, as we're building this out, thought of, hey, is this a good use of our time? Should we be here? Should we be there? Et cetera. But I think within any new venture, you got to know how every single piece of this thing really works. If you're going to go to the public and give them some confidence that when they show up on May 27 or in June or in July or for season two, that you somehow know what you're doing. And I think we overindexed on that because at the beginning, we didn't know what we were doing. But I think as much as we can go back and correct and quibble about this, this or that, what a learning experience it was to go back and look top to bottom 360 at every facet of this, and really, you're cracking a code. You're putting together a puzzle. [00:20:38] Speaker C: Right? [00:20:38] Speaker D: And so now, as we think about season two, now as we think about other things in the community that speak to surge, we're going in with the confidence of knowing from top to bottom what this actually is. And I think that's still being defined. But I think we'll look back at year one and say, for whatever it was worth, for all the things we had going on, it couldn't have probably gone any other way. And let's not judge that, and let's appreciate that for that moment in time, it was. [00:21:03] Speaker E: That's a nice place to end, I think. Okay, perfect. [00:21:06] Speaker D: Thank you. [00:21:06] Speaker E: Thank you guys for being here. [00:21:07] Speaker F: Thank you so much. [00:21:11] Speaker A: And that's it for this episode of surge in the city. Thanks for listening. I'm Lucy Beauregard. Thanks again to Usman Tahir Jut, Dylan Howe and Jason Ribiero for their insights, and to Anaya Zarka and Annika Sage for their help in producing this episode. This series is a collaboration between the Calgary surge and the Community podcast initiative based out of Mount Royal University. It was produced on treaty seven territory and we recognize the stewards and storytellers of these lands, the Nitsitape, Iahe, Nakoda, Sutina, and Metis peoples. We are grateful to create, learn and play here, and as storytellers ourselves, we are committed to listening to their expertise and continuing to learn as we work toward reconciliation. Follow the surge and their new season at Calgarysurge, CA and at Calgarysurge on social media. Learn more about the community podcast initiative at thepodcaststudio, CA and at Communitypod YYC. Be sure to subscribe for the latest episodes and find out where in the city the surge will be next.