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Owners of Golden Ticket Sports Centre ‘pumped’ to soon welcome residents to venue

'I think (the building has) a lot of potential ... . It will have a different look than any other gym, certainly in Saskatchewan, but also any other place we’ve looked at in Western Canada'
Golden Ticket Sports Centre 4
Tanner Brightman is co-owner of Golden Ticket Sports Inc., along with business partner Chris King. Their company now operates the former Hillcrest Sports Centre, which has been renamed to Golden Ticket Sports Centre. Photo by Jason G. Antonio

The hum of industrial fans and whine of power drills fill the former Hillcrest Sports Centre as contractors continue to transform the building into an upscale multi-sport venue.

Work to turn the newly named Golden Ticket Sports Centre into a site that can accommodate high-calibre sports camps, amateur athletics, and community activities is 60-per-cent complete. Once finished, the building will have a new hardwood gym floor, floodlights, one full and two cross-court basketball courts, six to eight pickleball courts, two full-sized volleyball courts, and a beach volleyball area.

The Sowden Flanagan Baseball Training Academy and the tennis club will continue to occupy spaces adjacent to the massive court.

Lloydminster-based Golden Ticket Sports Inc. is investing $300,000 into the building after signing a five-year agreement with the City of Moose Jaw to operate the venue. 

The floor was in good condition when Golden Ticket took ownership, mainly because the venue used to house a 14-sheet curling rink, said Golden Sports co-owner Tanner Brightman. The floor is 145 feet long and almost completely level — just what curling needs — while the last 25 feet taper off, so the company decided to turn that area into a beach volleyball zone. 

“I think (the building has) a lot of potential. I think over the last nine months, I’ve probably looked at 150 — minimum — buildings across Western Canada to see what you need and you don’t, and it’s not often you find a wide-open span building like this … ,” he continued. “It will have a different look than any other gym, certainly in Saskatchewan, but also any other place we’ve looked at in Western Canada.”

Golden Ticket Sports is excited to put its stamp on the building over the next five years, he remarked. As a coach with Basketball Saskatchewan for eight years, he brought his teams to Moose Jaw to train since the community has a different “vibe” than elsewhere. 

“I’m pumped. I can’t wait for us to have people in here,” Brightman added.

Brightman and business partner Chris King visited Moose Jaw five times before submitting a bid to operate the sports centre. They could visualize how the space could look on their first trip and realized it could be a place for the community to gather and for parents to watch their kids. 

The centre will open on July 19, when the first of four basketball summer camps launch. A camp for boys in grades 8 to 12 runs from July 19 to 23, followed by a camp for girls in grades 8 to 12 from July 26 to 30. A learn-to-play camp for students in grades 1 to 3 runs Aug. 2 to 6, while a camp for students in grades 4 to 7 occurs during the same week.

Golden Ticket has signed an agreement with both Moose Jaw school divisions to offer sport-specific training, including volleyball and basketball. As part of the renovations, the former restaurant space is being converted into a classroom, while the bar is being turned into a viewing area. 

The pandemic has reminded everyone how valuable sports and extracurricular activities are, said Brightman. The goal of the sports centre is to make it a busy place, which means tying curricular outcomes to the building and making the venue a “one-stop shop” for learning and training. 

Brightman and King also want residents to visit through drop-in activities such as basketball or pickleball. The goal is to offer a minimum of 14 hours of drop-in time per week; the sports centre will be open from 7:30 a.m. until roughly 10 p.m. most nights, which they hope will keep the building busy every day. 

Visit http://goldenticketsports.com for more information. 

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