Yellowknife Filipino basketball league thrives through community

Dozens of team representatives from the largest basketball league in the N.W.T. lined up across the floor of Yellowknife's Sir John Franklin High School gymnasium on Sunday, April 12, ready to officially open their second season. 

Annie Esteban, the wife of vacationing league commissioner Conrad, takes his place at the front of the group. Clad in her own jersey, complete with 'Annie' nameplate, she recites an opening prayer, then the players sing the national anthem. Once it's finished, they file out, bound for another, smaller gym. 

The mechanism which lowers one of Sir John's hoops has been broken for weeks, yet the league wasn't informed by the city's booking agent. No matter. The group, followed by dozens of fans and family members, took the first working facility it could find.

Overcoming challenge. Wildly, yet quietly, thriving. It's just another day for Yellowknife's Filipino community, and the Yellowknife Philippine Basketball League.

'More than basketball'

Conrad Esteban says the idea for a Philippine basketball league in Yellowknife has been around for at least 10 years. Similar leagues have been established in other major cities across the country, including Whitehorse. Esteban says it's a reflection of his country's culture.

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"There's a couple common grounds with the Filipino community," he says. "Food and basketball. Basketball has been a part of our lives for a very long time.

"Anywhere you go, when we grow up, there's always a basketball hoop half a block, or a block away. So it's nothing new to us. We just really love playing the game."

The massive popularity of basketball in the Philippines is evident in the success of Yellowknife's league. It currently boasts seven teams — two more than the local men's league — and nearly 100 players. Interest is booming, and next season, an eighth team will be added.

It's not uncommon to have up to 100 fans in attendance for a Sunday regular season match-up, which come complete with prize draws, plenty of food, and an announcer who provides commentary on the game in Tagalog over a makeshift PA system.

Players are decked out in colourful custom jerseys ordered from the Philippines — it's cheaper to get them there, says Esteban — and young children run and play in the corners of the gym, many wearing smaller versions of their family member's uniforms. The cumulative effect is a carnival-like atmosphere that is part sporting event, part cultural celebration, and part family reunion.

"It's more than basketball," says Tony Fontanilla, a league organizer whose company, Simply Da Best Carpet Cleaning, is one of its primary sponsors.

"We're trying to make it like unity. That's what we're trying to promote. And that's why we get together at least once a week, like a family day kind of thing. 

"Even right now, most of these people," he says, gesturing to the crowd, "are new ones, newcomers. Most of them, I don't even know their name. But with this event every Sunday, we'll get to know each other better."

An unlikely hotbed

The Arctic may seem like a strange place for an influx of immigrants from the Philippines, a collection of islands in southeast Asia located just north of the equator, but according to representatives from the city's Philippine Cultural Association, their number is climbing.

In the 2011 census, Tagalog was the most common mother tongue reported in Yellowknife, after English and French, at 2.7 per cent. 

Though there are many families who have been in the city for decades, Dhon Salvador, who has lived in Yellowknife for nearly 20 years, says the population began to boom around the turn of the millennium. 

"McDonalds, they started a working program with the government for getting some immigrants from other communities to work here," he says.

"And relatives from here, that's when they did the word of mouth: 'why don't you come here [to Yellowknife], instead? Your papers will be processed faster.' 

"And that's how it started. Word of mouth."​

There's a couple common grounds with the Filipino community. Food and basketball.- Conrad Esteban, Commissioner, Yellowknife Philippine Basketball League

No matter how large the population gets, though, it can be difficult to meet people in a new city. Esteban says that's part of why establishing the league was so important.

"I came here in 2004," he says. "I worked nights, so I'd pretty much sleep during the day. And one of my days off, I went to church, and all of a sudden, one guy came up and introduced himself. And that's how it all started for me, knowing the other Filipinos. 

"In general, Filipinos are very warm, very accommodating, which is really helpful for a place like Yellowknife, which is dark and cold during the winter. Lately, there's been quite a bit of temporary foreign workers who came to Yellowknife. And sometimes, this [league] is the only way that they try to connect with other Filipinos."

Success 'overwhelming'

Inclusion is one of the hallmarks of the Yellowknife Philippine Basketball League. Players and attendees are encouraged to invite their friends and bring their families, and for many residents, it represents their first access to the city's robust Filipino community.

Joubert Falcunitin, who moved to Yellowknife four years ago, heard about the league through a friend at work. Now, he plays on the Blue Ravens — one of two teams added for the second season — and brings his two young daughters to every game.

"It's a way where you can make new friends, and meet old friends," he says. "In my case, I met new friends right away through this league. It creates friendship and camaraderie among Filipino guys, and among families as well."

How large the league will eventually get is anyone's guess. Salvador, who is on the organizing committee, says the eventual goal is to one day have their own facility, which would eliminate the need for school-hopping, as well as potential mechanical mishaps. 

Esteban, though, isn't looking to the future, saying the league's current success is "overwhelming."

"We're just trying to start it on the right foot, trying to get it going in the right way," he says. "What I'm expecting — or what my reminder is with everybody — is let's just play. And let's have fun.

"We always wanted to play together. So what we did here, we can't all go to the Philippines at the same time, so we brought a little bit of the Philippines to Yellowknife."